This book was published on the occasion of Simon Hantaï: the last studio at Gagosian, Gstaad. Curated by Anne Baldassari, the exhibition featured sixteen of Hantaï’s dernier atelier (the last studio) paintings of 1982–85, which are distinguished by vibrantly colored abstract forms derived from a combination of folding and dripping techniques. Hantaï originated the pliage (folding) method, in which a canvas is crumpled and knotted, painted over, and then spread out to reveal chromatic alternations. He produced the last studio works during his withdrawal from public life after representing France at the 1982 Biennale di Venezia, stapling many of the paintings atop one another in a unique studio installation.

The catalogue, edited by Baldassari, includes color plates of all the exhibited works as well as installation views and studio photography. Baldassari examines the paintings and their genesis in an extensively illustrated four-part essay and annotates a portfolio of previously unpublished black-and-white photographs of the artist in his studio by Édouard Boubat. In the context of the book, images and text function together as a guide to Hantaï’s series and subseries, revealing aspects of their development, chronology, and display.