Exhibition · Nagas
Marie Lucie Nessi
(1910-1992)
Jan 29 – Feb 18
8 images · swipe
About the show
Nagas presents in this solo exhibition a focused group of paintings by Marie Lucie Nessi (1910-1992), drawn from her work on landscape and urban motifs. Executed in small and medium formats, the works depict varied settings--snow-covered views, summer landscapes, street scenes, and a rare abstracted composition--approached through a consistent pictorial method.
Nessi received her formative training in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the École nationale superieure des beaux-arts, where she studied under Andre Lhote. His emphasis on compositional structure, calibrated color relationships, and analytical construction provided a lasting framework for her practice. In Nessi's paintings, observation is disciplined by structure, and atmosphere is achieved through controlled means rather than descriptive excess.
The exhibition is organized around place rather than chronology, allowing different motifs and conditions to be seen in relation to one another. Across changing seasons and locations, Nessi maintains a stable approach to form and surface, adapting it to shifting light, scale, and subject. The modest dimensions of the works reinforce their immediacy and intimacy, while also foregrounding the clarity of their construction.
Taken together, these paintings offer a concentrated view of Nessi's practice and underline the coherence of a body of work shaped by rigorous training, sustained observation, and long-term engagement with painting.
About Nagas
Nagas opened in New York in 2025 as a continuation of this work. Since then, Ilian has curated significant exhibitions. It includes one on Leonor Fini and the first show of Scandinavian Surrealists following a conference at the Moderna Museet. In the gallery context, he has overseen catalogues production, curated exhibitions, and facilitated the placement of artworks in institutions across the US, the UK, and France.
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