Réalités Nouvelles marks 80 years of abstraction

Founded in the aftermath of the war, Réalités Nouvelles was built around a clear premise: to give abstraction regular visibility. Eight decades on, the salon still follows that line, making it less a trend-driven event than a place of continuity for artists working with colour, line, composition and material without relying on recognisable subjects.

The 2026 edition, shown at Césure, fits into that history. It will interest artists and painting and drawing enthusiasts because it lets them compare, in one place, very different ways of building an image: some works rely on the balance of masses, others on the pulse of a line or the breathing space of emptiness.

Watching how an artwork holds together

This kind of salon is valuable for the eye because it puts craft before subject matter. Viewers can follow decisions about scale, gesture and surface as the work’s own content, and better understand how a painting or drawing can create presence without depicting a scene.

In an art world often dominated by fairs and gallery news, Réalités Nouvelles is a reminder that a salon can still defend a clear line over time. For anyone interested in practice, it is also a place to observe exchanges between generations and the ways a tradition can be renewed through precise visual means.