Cyprien Gaillard (French, b.1980)
'New Picturesque', 2012

postcard, paper

Dimensions: 8.9 x 13.9 cm. (3 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.)

With Sprüth Magers, Berlin

Cyprien Gaillard’s The New Picturesque series reinterprets the 18th-century aesthetic concept of the picturesque through a contemporary lens, focusing on the beauty found in urban decay and post-industrial landscapes. In this body of work, Gaillard documents neglected or overlooked environments such as abandoned buildings, crumbling housing blocks, or overgrown public spaces highlighting their accidental poetry and visual complexity. By framing these modern ruins with a romantic sensibility, The New Picturesque challenges traditional ideas of beauty and landscape, positioning decay and disorder as worthy subjects of contemplation and aesthetic appreciation.