Vivian Springford

Almine Rech Shanghai is pleased to present Vivian Springford's third solo exhibition with the gallery, on view from January 15 to March 7, 2026.

Upon prolonged contemplation Vivian Springford’s paintings can seem alive. The flowing colors and organic shapes of her compositions appear to breathe, to move. This vitality becomes all the more remarkable when one considers the artist’s process, which emphasized gesture and energy, yet also demanded extraordinary control and exactitude. 

Beginning in the 1960s, Springford poured diluted acrylic paint directly onto a primed, still-wet canvas, carefully guiding its sprawl with a brush. She then built up the composition with multiple delicate layers of pigment, using varying levels of solvent to differentiate each stratum. This ambitious technique relied as much on precision as it did on chance, revealing both Springford’s technical mastery and imaginative vision. She sought a pure form of abstraction, and achieved it through her innovative stain paintings, which transcended line, among other compositional elements, to revel in the emotive potential of color and the dynamic energy of movement.

This exhibition holds a particular resonance, as Springford maintained throughout her career a deep affinity for the art of East Asia, especially Chinese calligraphy. In the press kit for a 1960 exhibition, she explained how these art forms influenced her: “I liked the direct approach of the early Chinese painters [...] Whatever they put down on paper stayed there; they didn’t edit. They didn’t copy nature, either; they interpreted it. In fact, some of the older Chinese drawings are much more abstract than anything done today. I adapted their rhythm and free motion to my own abstract paintings.” ¹ Springford’s decisive, gestural style was greatly informed by Chinese art, as was her interest in drawing from nature. Many of her major series (Chromatic Pools, Cosmos, among others) reference and reinterpret natural phenomena, without seeking to depict them directly.

This intimate show brings together four paintings, two from the 1960s and two from the 1980s. Together, the works bridge two pivotal phases in Springford’s career: the honing of her stain painting technique in the 1960s, and her last creative output before declining vision forced the artist to stop working due to deteriorating vision.

While Springford exhibited and attained a certain level of recognition during her lifetime, she never reached the renown of many of her contemporaries. By appreciating her sublime paintings today, we can hope this remarkable artist will soon take her rightful place alongside the masters of mid-century American abstract painting. 

— Louisa Mahoney, researcher

1 Vivian Springford, Almine Rech Editions, 2018, p. 42. 

阿尔敏·莱希 - 上海荣幸宣布呈现艺术家维维安·斯普林福德的第三次画廊个展。展览于2026年1月15日开幕，并将展至3月7日。

在反复的凝视下，维维安·斯普林福德的绘画仿佛拥有生命。画面中流动的色彩与有机形态似乎在呼吸、在运动。当我们进一步了解艺术家的创作方式时，这种生命力显得尤为动人——她的创作既强调姿态与能量，又要求极高的控制力与精准度。

自20世纪60年代起，斯普林福德便将稀释的丙烯颜料直接倾注在尚未干透的底布上，并用画笔巧妙地掌控颜料的流动。随后，她以多层细腻的颜料叠加构建画面，并通过不同浓度的溶剂区分各层。这个雄心勃勃的技法既依赖精准，也充满偶然性，展现了斯普林福德非凡的技艺与想象力。她追求一种纯粹的抽象形式，并通过创新的渍染绘画实现了这一目标——这些作品超越了线条等传统构图元素，尽情释放色彩的情感潜力与运动的动态能量。

此外，本次展览尤具特殊意义，因为维维安·斯普林福德在其整个创作生涯中始终与东亚艺术，尤其是中国书法，保持着深厚的精神联系。她在1960年一次展览新闻稿中曾这样解释：“我喜欢早期中国画家那种直接的方式……他们落笔即成，不作修改；

他们也并非描摹自然，而是对自然加以诠释。事实上，一些古老的中国绘画比当今许多作品都更加抽象。我将他们的节奏感与自由的运动性融入到我自己的抽象绘画之中。” ¹ 斯普林福德果敢、充满肢体感的风格深受中国艺术启发，同时她也从自然中汲取灵感。她的许多重要系列（如《色调池》《宇宙》等）皆参考并再现自然现象，而非直接描摹。本次展览呈现四件作品，其中两件来自1960年代，两件来自1980年代。它们跨越了斯普林福德艺术生涯中的两个关键阶段：一是1960年代她精进渍染绘画技法的时期，二是视力逐渐衰退、被迫停止创作前的最后艺术产出阶段。尽管斯普林福德生前曾展出并获得一定认可，但她从未达到许多同时代艺术家的声望。今天欣赏她的卓越画作，我们有理由期待，这位非凡艺术家终将在20世纪中期美国抽象绘画大师之列，赢得应有的地位。

文 / Louisa Mahoney，研究员

1 《维维安·斯普林福德》，Almine Rech Editions，2018 年，第42 页