Aimée and Marguerite Maeght with Louis Clayeux pay Kelly a visit at his Coenties Slip studio in early 1958 to propose a solo show of his paintings for the coming fall season. For his first solo show at Galerie Maeght, Kelly ships twenty-two paintings to Paris. “Kelly is young and American, and his canvases are bigger and more assertive than those of his artistic forefathers.” (Hagen, Y. The New York Herald Tribune, October 29, 1958).

Kelly will design the poster, and the cover and interior of the catalogue, a special edition of Derrière le Miroir published on the occasion of the exhibition in October 1958. The edition marks Kelly’s first collaboration with the printmaker, Mourlot, who with Aimé Maeght established Derrière le Miroir as the contemporary art revue of Paris in 1946. The Paris show is a success with nearly all twenty-two paintings acquired for European collections, including Broadway, Black Ripe and Wall.

Ellsworth Kelly at Galerie Maeght opens October 24 through November 30.