Thomas SCHLESSER
LIFE AND WORK OF HANS HARTUNG AND ANNA-EVA BERGMAN

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Hartung-Bergman Foundation, Antibes © Hartung-Bergman Foundation, Antibes

The Expert

Thomas Schlesser, born in 1977, is an art historian. A research fellow and then a resident at the INHA, he completed a doctorate on Gustave Courbet at the EHESS in 2006, which was published in 2007 (Réceptions de Courbet by Les Presses du réel). He has authored numerous works on the 19th century, including a book on Paul Chenavard resulting from a post-doctorate at Sciences-Po (Paul Chenavard – monuments de l’échec in 2009 by Les Presses du réel), and several cross-disciplinary essays: L’Art face à la censure (Beaux-Arts éditions, 2011, reissued 2019), L’Univers sans l’homme (Hazan, 2016), Faire rêver (Gallimard, 2019). Thomas Schlesser was appointed director of the Hartung-Bergman Foundation in 2014, the same year he also began teaching at the École Polytechnique. He is working on the Foundation's evolution to make it both a heritage site open to visitors and a research center. Above all, he strives to promote the influence of Hans Hartung and Anna-Eva Bergman on national and international scales, as well as the understanding of their work from aesthetic, technical, and historical perspectives. [caption id="attachment_4963" align="alignleft" width="300"]-Eva Bergman (1909-1987) Eva Bergman (1909-1987) and Hans Hartung (1909-1987)[/caption] He has published numerous articles on Hans Hartung and, in 2022, the first biography of Anna-Eva Bergman with Gallimard, which was translated and published the following year in English by Eris Press (Anna-Eva Bergman – Lives of Light). He is also the author of documentaries and several exhibitions on the post-WWII art scene. Finally, Thomas Schlesser is also a writer. In 2024, he released his second novel, Mona's Eyes, with Albin Michel in Paris—translated into more than 35 languages. And in 2026, with the same publisher, "The Gardener's Cat".

Bibliography

EXPERT'S EXHIBITION CURATION:

  • The New School of Paris through its pioneering women (1945-1964), Galerie Perrotin, New York, 2024
  • Cosmic Trip, Hartung & Bergman between dream and science, Hartung-Bergman Foundation, Antibes, 2023
  • The Universe without Man – arts in search of other worlds, Museum of Art and Archaeology of Valence, 2023
  • Rothko-Hartung – a multifaceted friendship, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, 2021
  • Sensations of Nature, Musée Courbet, Ornans, 2015

EXPERT'S PUBLICATIONS

Novels
  • La Vierge maculée, Paris, Point de mire, 2003
  • Mona's Eyes, Paris, Albin Michel, 2024
  • The Gardener's Cat, Paris, Albin Michel Publishing, 2026

Essays

  • Receptions of Courbet, realist fantasies and paradoxes of democracy (1848-1871), Dijon, Les Presses du réel, 2007[28]
  • Paul Chenavard, monuments of failure (1807-1895), Dijon, Les Presses du réel, 2009[29]
  • Art in the Face of Censorship, Paris, Beaux Arts éditions, 2011
  • The Universe without Man - Arts against anthropocentrism, Paris, Hazan, 2016
  • Making People Dream – from Enlightenment art to the advertising nightmare, Paris, Gallimard, 2019
  • Anna-Eva Bergman - Lives of Light, Paris, Gallimard, 2022

General interest works

  • Courbet's Journal, Paris, Hazan, 2007
  • Courbet, a painter against the grain, Paris, Scala, 2007
  • An Indiscreet History of the Female Nude, Paris, Beaux Arts éditions, 2010
  • One Hundred Enigmas of Painting – Beauty, Paris, Hazan, 2010

Collaborative works

  • The True Story of Impressionism (with Bertrand Tillier), Paris, Beaux Arts éditions, 2010
  • The Self-Portrait in Art History (with Stéphane Guégan, Henri Soldani and Laurence Madeline), Paris, Beaux Arts éditions, 2009
  • Courbet in the Face of Caricature: Uproar through Images (with Bertrand Tillier), Paris, Kimé, 2007
  • 1 Franc, narrative (with Gilles Schlesser), Paris, l’Harmattan, 2002

Documentaries (screenplay)

  • Hans Hartung, the fury of painting (directed by Romain Goupil), 52 min, Arte, les Poissons volants, 2019
  • Rothko-Hartung, colors and cataclysms (directed by Stanislas Valroff), 52 min, MuseumTV, BelAir Media, 2022
  • The New School of Paris, splendors and miseries of a forgotten avant-garde (directed by Stanislas Valroff), Le Quai, 52 min, 2024
 

Contact

Thomas SCHLESSER
Hartung-Bergman Foundation 173 Chemin du Valbosquet FR- 06600 ANTIBES +33 (0)4 93 33 45 92 +33 (0) 6 22 76 01 89 thomas.schlesser@fhhaeb.com https://fondationhartungbergman.fr/ https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Schlesser  

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