Grisaille
Grisaille
KETABI BOURDET
22 passage Dauphine, Paris
25 November – 23 December 2026
Nicholas Hall is delighted to present Grisaille, an exhibition organized in collaboration with Ketabi Bourdet in Paris, one of the most dynamic galleries operating at the intersection of art, design, architecture and scenography today. It will be on view in their gallery space at 22 passage Dauphine in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district between 25 November and 23 December 2026.
The centerpiece is an exceptional painting, the Victory of Constantine, by the celebrated Roman artist Giuseppe Cesari, also known as the Cavaliere d’Arpino (1568–1640). This monumental canvas from circa 1635 will be brought into dialogue with a rare ensemble of Prince de Fribourg & Treyer furniture designed by Philippe Starck (b. 1949) for the Italian manufacturer Driade in 1987. Separated by nearly four centuries, this unprecedented encounter between the two artists explores the enduring modernity of classical art and the unexpected connections between painting and design. The Victory of Constantine is among the last masterpieces by Cavaliere d’Arpino, Rome’s leading artist at the turn of the 17th century. The canvas, measuring almost four-meters wide, depicts the victory of the Roman Emperor Constantine over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD, which marked the beginning of Christian Rome. The Cavaliere’s vigorous composition and emotional candidness anticipates the Baroque style, which became synonymous with the innovations of his most famous pupil, Caravaggio (1571–1610).
Executed in grisaille with a trompe-l’œil black frame, the frieze-like appearance of the Victory recalls the carvings commemorating the battle on the Arch of Constantine and antique reliefs such as the third-century Ludovisi Sarcophagus—an indication of the artist’s erudite fascination with the classical debate of paragone, the competition between painting and sculpture. The geometric quality and subdued palette of our canvas specifically brings to mind the Guernica (1937), a 20th-century reflection on war. The monochrome momentum has spread in the last century to figurative and abstract artists alike, resulting in iconic works ranging from the photo-based paintings of Gerhard Richter to the blackboard series of Cy Twombly.