Artist: Nicolas Party

The universe of Swiss painter Nicolas Party comes alive in his first solo exhibition at Hauser & Wirth in London. Featuring 15 new treescapes and portraits in pastel, this exhibition celebrates and challenges longstanding and cherished conventions of representational painting through Party’s signature style.

The portraits in the exhibition, inspired by two sculptural works by Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin, serve as a conceptual springboard to also frame the group of treescapes on view. Party utilizes the symbolism and mythological references present in these sculptures to confront the inevitability of aging and death, two themes that have long been central to his artistic exploration. Known for his unique use of soft pastel, the artist has become a master of the medium, employing the pigment’s versatility, immediacy and saturated color.

Party is known for conceiving his exhibitions as comprehensive environments, incorporating architectural interventions and extending the palette of his paintings across the gallery’s walls. Heightening the powerful formal and psychological effects of his subject matter, he has chosen to steep the surrounding walls in a rich electric blue for this exhibition, punctuated by arches that lead the viewer through each space and frame the view of the final treescape.

The first instalment of Hauser & Wirth Publishers’ new Contemporary Masters series, a new monograph focused on Nicolas Party’s mural work, will be published alongside this exhibition. ‘Nicolas Party: Copper & Dust’ is on view at The Holburne Museum in Bath, UK until 31 August 2025, accompanied by a large site-specific pastel mural responding to a work from the museum’s collection, on display until 19 October 2025.