In 1948, the Hungarian artist Simon Hantaï moved to Paris. He joined André Breton and the Surrealists shortly after his arrival but left the group in 1955. After showing his work at the 1982 Venice Biennale, Hantaï withdrew from public view and spent the rest of his life mostly in isolation. He died in 2008. Two years ago, the Fondation Louis Vuitton honored the artist with a retrospective that highlighted his “pliage” (folding) paintings. Now Gagosian follows up with “Azzurro,” curated by Anne Baldassari and focusing on Hantaï’s relationship with the color blue. Large-scale “Tabula” paintings, created between the early 1970s and 80s, evoke the styles of Matisse and Cezanne as well as Picasso’s Blue Period. The exhibition also looks at Hantaï’s life-long admiration of Italy and classical Italian painters. —Jeanne Malle