NEW YORK, NY.- Jill Newhouse Gallery is pleased to have on view their third show of works by New York artist Gerard Mossé. These 21 vibrant watercolors were done from 1998-2000, at the end of a period of transition and struggle in the artist’s life, and represent the beginning of his career commitment to the depiction of light through color.


Gerard Mossé, Untitled, 6570, 1998-2000, Watercolor on paper, 9 x 12 3/16 inches.

Michael Wolf writes the following about Mossé’s work:

Paul Klee, experiencing the distinct quality of light in North Africa during a visit to Tunisia, once quipped, “Color possesses me. I don’t have to pursue it. It will possess me always... Color and I are one. I am a painter.” It is an apt quote for the series of watercolors Gerard Mossé on view at Jill Newhouse Gallery. Born in Casablanca, Morocco, Gerard Mossé moved to Marseille at age 12 and later to Los Angeles. Like Klee, Matisse, and other artists, Mossé was strongly influenced by the intense light and vivid colors he encountered as a youth in North Africa, an influence that would leave a lasting impression on his work. In the 1970s, while studying painting in Los Angeles, Mossé apprenticed with ceramicist Michael Frimkess, and then went on to open his own ceramics studio before earning an MFA in painting from Claremont Graduate University. He moved to New York in 1987 specifically to paint, but in 1998, he returned to ceramics to supplement his income, developing a line of designs manufactured in Toronto and later Portugal. Seeking to reconnect with his painting practice, he began creating the watercolors in this exhibition, works which were all painted in New York over the three year period from 1998 to 2000.


Gerard Mossé, Untitled, 6601, 1998-2000, Watercolor on paper, 9 x 12 3/16 inches.

Mossé explains that completing these watercolor paintings was not a quick process; each one was developed over a period of several weeks. The paintings in Light Rising are created by building up thin layers of different watercolor pigments, allowing Mossé to create new colors through their interaction. Working in this way also allows light to pass through the translucent layers of paint, reflect off the white paper beneath, and return to the viewer’s eye. The result is a luminosity and depth that would be difficult to achieve with an opaque medium.

Light Rising: Watercolors 1998-2000 is as much about the experience of seeing as it is about color. Mossé’s paintings transform the simple materials of pigment, water, and paper into something that appears to glow from within. The influences that shaped his work, from the intense light of North Africa to the stained-glass windows of Sainte-Chapelle, come together through his thoughtful process of layering and mixing color. While the paintings are rooted in the physical properties of watercolor, their luminous surfaces evoke something beyond the material. They offer a moment of stillness in which light and color seem to transcend the limitations of the small sheet of paper, creating a quiet, contemplative experience.


Gerard Mossé, Untitled, 6511, 1998-2000, Watercolor on paper, 9 1/16 x 8 1/4 inches

Exhibition Information:

October 29-November 24, 2026
Tuesday-Friday, 10-5, Monday & Saturday by appointment
4 East 81st Street, New York, NY 10028

Printed and digital catalogues available with text by the artist.

Essay available by Michael Wolf.

For more information visit www.jillnewhouse.com