Hans Hartung. Two events for the finissage

Installation views of The Invisible Chord. Hans Hartung and Music at Querini
Stampalia Foundation, Venice. ©Photo: Tanguy Beurdeley. Courtesy of the
Hartung Bergman Foundation, Querini Stampalia Foundation and Perrotin.

On the occasion of the finissage of the exhibition The Invisible Chord: Hans Hartung and Music, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, together with the Fondation Hartung-Bergman and Perrotin, presents two events exploring the dialogue between painting, music, and the moving image.

Painting and Music: Convergences, Analogies, Philosophical Implications

8 September 2026, 6:30 pm
Auditorium, Fondazione Querini Stampalia

The event will explore themes such as gesture, rhythm, form and resonance, bringing together art history, musicology and archival research.
Thomas Schlesser, Charlotte De Mille and Gianmario Borio will delve into the relationship between painting and music through Hans Hartung’s creative process.
Introduction by Cristiana Collu, Director of Fondazione Querini Stampalia.
The event will be enriched by a musical performance by flautist Raphaëlle Rose.

The conversation will be held in English.
Free admission upon reservation.

Thomas Schlesser
Thomas Schlesser is Director of the Hartung-Bergman Foundation, Professor at the École Polytechnique in Paris, and curator of The Invisible Chord: Hans Hartung and Music. A specialist in Gustave Courbet, to whom he has devoted numerous studies, he is the author of several essays and biographies, including Art Facing Censorship (Beaux-Arts Éditions, 2011, reissued 2019), The Universe Without Man – The Arts Against Anthropocentrism (Hazan, 2016), Making Us Dream – From the Dream of the Enlightenment to the Advertising Nightmare (Gallimard, 2019), and Anna-Eva Bergman – Luminous Lives (Gallimard, 2022). He is also the author of documentaries and a curator of exhibitions. His novel, Les Yeux de Mona, earned him the award of “Author of the Year” in 2025.

Charlotte De Mille
Associate Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art, where she also curates the Courtauld Gallery’s music programme, Charlotte De Mille is a specialist in the intersections between music and the visual arts from the 19th century to the present, on which she has published widely. She is the author of Bergson in Britain: Philosophy and Modern Art 1890–1914 (Edinburgh University Press, 2023) and co-editor of The Bloomsbury Handbook to Music and Art (Bloomsbury, 2023). Together with Gianmario Borio, she co-directs the research project Intersections Between Music and Visual Arts in Europe: 1950–2000.

Gianmario Borio
Gianmario Borio is Professor of Musicology at the University of Pavia and Director of the Institute of Music at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice. In 1999, he was awarded the Dent Medal by the Royal Musical Association, and in 2021 he received the “Happy New Ears” Prize for publications in new music from the Hans and Gertrud Zender Foundation. In 2013, he was Distinguished Visiting Professor at The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America. He has been a member of the Academia Europaea since 2013, a corresponding member of the American Musicological Society since 2016, and a corresponding fellow of the British Academy since 2019. He is director of the book series Musical Cultures of the Twentieth Century (Routledge) and the online journal Archival Notes. His publications address several aspects of twentieth-century music, including theory and aesthetics, political context, audiovisual experience, the history of musical concepts and the theory of musical form.

Cristiana Collu
Cristiana Collu, museum director and independent curator, was appointed Director of the Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice in September 2024. Among others, she previously directed the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome, the MART in Trento and Rovereto, and the MAN in Nuoro. With a Master’s degree in Art History from the University of Cagliari and a PhD from the Complutense University of Madrid, she has taught at La Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Sassari, the University of Cagliari, the University of Trento, and the LUISS Business School in Rome. She has taken part in and continues to serve on prestigious committees, juries, and scientific boards, including the International Jury of the 58th Venice Biennale, the Farnesina Commission, the Tuwaiq International Sculpture Symposium and the Riyadh Art Program in Saudi Arabia, the Quadriennale di Roma, the Terna Prize, and many others. She has curated and conceived over 200 exhibitions, dedicating much of her work, research, and projects to sustainability, gender equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Raphaëlle Rose
After six years of musical training at the Maîtrise de Radio France and a degree in musicology from the Sorbonne, Raphaëlle Rose began studying the flute in Paris. She continued her training in the Paris region and Strasbourg before joining the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden, where she completed a Master’s degree in performance. Based in Dresden, where Hans Hartung studied and lived for ten years, she performs regularly with German orchestras and teaches. She has developed a keen interest in the artist’s relationship with music, particularly because he was born in Leipzig, the city of his favourite composer, Bach, whose music permeates his creative practice. She has given three concerts as part of symposia organised by the Fondation Hartung-Bergman, each conceived in response to the themes of the event and Hartung’s work. She also contributed to the documentary A Cosmic Symphony: Hartung and Music, presented as part of the exhibition at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia.

Three perspectives on Hans Hartung

13 September 2026, 10am – 6pm
Auditorium, Fondazione Querini Stampalia

Three films will be shown in a continuous loop, offering three distinct perspectives on Hartung’s world: his life and singular trajectory, his artistic dialogue with Mark Rothko, and the broader post-war context that shaped his generation. Visitors are welcome to join the screenings at any time throughout the day.
Cultural mediators will also be available in the exhibition galleries to guide visitors.

Hans Hartung, A Passion for Painting
French | English subtitles | 52 min
This film traces the remarkable life of Hans Hartung, from his early years in Germany and his engagement against Nazism, resulting in the loss of a leg, to his rise as a major figure of abstract art. Combining archival footage, excerpts from his writings and an immersive exploration of his studio in Antibes, the documentary portrays a life divided between hardship and later creative flourishing. It also explores his enduring artistic experiments, his profound connection to nature and the cosmos, and his passionate relationship with artist Anna-Eva Bergman.

Rothko–Hartung: Colours and Cataclysms
French | English subtitles | 34 min | 2022
Set against the backdrop of the post-war rivalry between Europe and the United States for artistic leadership, this documentary uncovers the little-known yet deeply fertile relationship between Mark Rothko and Hans Hartung. From their first meeting in 1950, an intense artistic dialogue emerged, marked by mutual admiration and creative emulation. Through this lens, the film reveals how their exchanges gave rise to monumental, metaphysical works, offering a fresh perspective on the history of twentieth-century painting.

The New School of Paris
French | English subtitles | 52 min
Produced on the occasion of the group exhibition The New School of Paris Through Its Pioneering Women (1945–1964), presented at Perrotin New York in 2024, this documentary revisits the “New School of Paris” as a dynamic moment rather than a unified movement. Bringing together a cosmopolitan group of abstract artists, it highlights the diversity of practices that shaped post-war abstraction. The film sheds light on the pivotal yet often overlooked role of female gallerists and critics, whose vision and commitment were instrumental in supporting these artists. Through archival materials and historical insight, it offers a renewed understanding of this key artistic period and its gradual marginalisation on the international stage.