David Novros: Painting

Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany
October 7, 2026–February 29, 2027

The Hamburger Kunsthalle presents a major David Novros retrospective, showing a body of work that spans six decades. The exhibition features more than fifty of his paintings, copper reliefs, works on paper and models, which are on view across two floors. 

In his work, the artist explores  the impact of colour, form and surface in space. His art is expansive and immersive, ranging from site-specific murals to multi-panel paintings hung on museum walls. As they interact with the surrounding architecture, these wall-covering works make tangible the interrelationships between artwork, space and viewer.

During a trip to Europe in 1963, Novros saw for the first time a range of interiors adorned with large-scale wall paintings. He viewed the Alhambra in Granada, Giotto’s frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, works by Fra Angelico and Piero della Francesca in Florence, Matisse’s studio in Nice as well as the mosaics in Ravenna and prehistoric cave paintings in Spain. These immersive experiences – along with European art in general – would become a vital catalyst for his concept of painting as a form of expression that envelops people and shapes their space, exerting a profound impact on them. Upon his return to the USA, this aspiration would prompt him to devote himself to mural painting. In 1964, Novros developed the concept of painting in place, a form of painting in which the wall is incorporated into the composition as the picture plane, so that the surrounding space becomes part of the image. He achieved this through the creation of large portable murals, thereby producing a distinctive, monumental oeuvre hallmarked by a painstaking exploration of the materiality of paint and the complex interplay of colours that unfolds in each individual piece.