Their founding declaration, written by art critic Pierre Restany, described their artistic vision as “new perceptual approaches to reality” and just twenty minutes after it was signed on October 27, 1960 in Paris, it was already causing controversy within the group. However, its members later created an explosive revolutionary movement between Dada and Pop Art that playfully commented on the industrial society of the time, overwhelmed by advertising and mass consumption. We are also talking about creators who used in their work the ephemeral and damaged elements of everyday life that they found in factories, forges, second-hand shops, and then transformed them into an exuberant, exuberant and cheerful spirit. It was, in a nutshell, New Realism (Nouveau Réalisme), one of the most important artistic movements of post-war art, which, although not widely known, many of its representatives are now among the most famous artists of the 20s. century.

“New Realism” is also the name of the first major international exhibition of the Vassilis and Eliza Goulandris Foundation, which opens its doors from today until April 9 and aims to present the particular New Realism movement that has so stirred up the waters of art. in post-war France and Europe. The exhibition, provided by a number of institutional and private organizations (but also originating from the collection of the Goulandris Foundation itself, whose founders honored this movement), brings together more than 50 works by all representatives of New Realism and, in particular, by Arman. , François Dufresne, Raymond Anse, Yves Klein, Marcial Reis, Daniel Sperry, Jean Tinguely, Jacques Vilgle, who signed the founding declaration, as well as Cesar, Mimo Rotella, Niki de Saint Phalle, Gérard Deschamps and Christo. The last five were added to the group at a later date, but all of them “will see this movement more as an adventure of friendship and sometimes fighting envy, and it will mark them throughout their creative careers,” the person responsible for it said. Maria Cutsomali-Moro, who curates the exhibition together with the President of the International Association of Man Ray Marion Meyer, said at the corresponding press conference of the Goulandris Foundation yesterday.

In the exhibition space of the institution you can admire Yves Klein’s “Victory of Samothrace”, which the artist decorated with his characteristic deep and lively blue color, as well as the “Bench” of Saint Phalle, in which there is so much joy and optimism; it features Cristo’s “Wrapped Cart”, which uses a wrapping technique that the environmentally conscious artist once applied to the entire Sydney beach, and Cesar’s “Squeezed Tins”, which worked extensively with metal.

As for the permanent collection of the Goulandris Foundation, and in particular Van Gogh’s controversial Olive Harvest, which was recently sued by the heirs of its original owner, the German-Jewish collector Hedwig Stern, developments to date: the institution has not received a relevant request from any official body, said Maria Cutsomali-Moro at yesterday’s press conference, and when this happens, this issue will be treated with all respect and attention.