INFINITUM
November 1st - December 20th, 2025
Reception: Saturday, November 1st, 6-8 pm
GEORGE DUNBAR
INFINITUM
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 1st, 2025
GEORGE DUNBAR (1927-2024)
GEORGE DUNBAR
INFINITUM
Callan Contemporary is honored to present George Dunbar: Infinitum, an intimate and historic exhibition showcasing paintings and sculpture selected from the personal collection of acclaimed artist George Dunbar (1927-2024) who passed away last year. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience works that have, until now, remained at the artist's secluded residence and studio on Bayou Bonfouca, Louisiana.
The exhibition spans multiple decades of Dunbar's prolific career and includes his signature clay reliefs and iconic gold and palladium leaf compositions. These pieces reflect the career path of an artist who, while deeply connected to the development of American abstract art, forged a singular vision of non-representational art inspired by the ever-changing landscapes of South Louisiana.
Dunbar's artistic career began after his time in the Navy during World War II. He attended Temple University's Tyler School of Art and Architecture and regularly made trips to New York at the height of Abstract Expressionism in the 1950's, where he was influenced by the gestural brushwork, spontaneity, and the physicality of the painting process itself from leading figures of the New York school: Jackson Pollack, Willem De Kooning, and Franz Kline.
Dunbar's deep love of Louisiana drew him home again in the mid-1950s. He became a leading figure in contemporary Southern art and was one of seven artists that founded The Orleans Gallery, the first Southern gallery to exhibit and promote the new abstract art movement happening in New York. His contributions as an artist and founding member of the Orleans Gallery helped advance an awareness of contemporary art in the South.
Reflecting on Dunbar’s legacy, the art critic John Yau wrote:
“I think it is time we recognize the significance of Dunbar’s engagement with art and with his contemporaries, as it addresses one crisis that art is perpetually undergoing: why is it being made and what should its mission be? By working across mediums, as well as being both geometric and figurative elements, Dunbar challenged orthodoxies regarding art, style, and the need to be consistent and work one way or another. Far from being idiosyncratic or regional in his choices, Dunbar was central in the questions he asked.”
With works held in major museum collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the British Museum, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, George Dunbar is recognized as one of the South’s most important artists of his generation and has been honored with career surveys such as Dunbar: Mining the Surfaces (New Orleans Museum of Art, 1997), George Dunbar Southern Masters Series (Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 2007) and George Dunbar: Elements of Chance (New Orleans Museum of Art, 2016-2017).
“I think it is time we recognize the significance of Dunbar’s engagement with art and with his contemporaries, as it addresses one crisis that art is perpetually undergoing: why is it being made and what should its mission be? By working across mediums, as well as being both geometric and figurative elements, Dunbar challenged orthodoxies regarding art, style, and the need to be consistent and work one way or another. Far from being idiosyncratic or regional in his choices, Dunbar was central in the questions he asked.”
- JOHN YAU
George Dunbar
Coin Du Lestin, c. 1999
Red gold over red, black and mauve clay with incised lines
80h x 73w in
SOLD
George Dunbar
Coin Du Lestin In Black and Gray, 2008
Black and gray-green clay with incised lines
60h x 48w in
SOLD
George Dunbar
Neshoba, Surge Series, 2023
Palladium leaf over black and pale blue-green clay with incised lines
88h x 81w in
SOLD
George Dunbar
Paquet-Marshgrass, 2006
Palladium over green clay and red rags
40h x 60w in
SOLD
George Dunbar
Black and White Series No. 3, 2009
Acrylic wash on paper collage
32 x 29 inches
George Dunbar
Paquet Series No. 18, 2024
Blue tone metallic yarn dyed linen bundles mounted on canvas over panel
37h x 49w in
George Dunbar
Bonfouca No. 65, 2014
Palladium and silver leaf over dark gray clay on panel
12h x 14.50w in
George Dunbar
Action Painting in Black and Tan, 2014
Acrylic on paper mounted on panel
11 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches
George Dunbar
Rouville No.141, 2024
Palladium and moon gold leaf over taupe clay
20.50h x 22.50w in
George Dunbar
Early Rouville, c 1955-60
Die keen with silver and gold leaf over yellow clay on board
14h x 22w in
George Dunbar
Deity Abstract in Silver, 2/10, 2010
silver plate over cast bronze
12h x 13w x 7d in
George Dunbar
Fragment Series No. 1, 1 of 7, 2010
Cast bronze, nickel plated on granite base
3h x 9w x 4d in
George Dunbar
Ahoyo - Surge Series, 2024
Moon gold, white and taupe clay with die keen
24h x 24w in
George Dunbar
Bonfouca No. 67, 2014
acrylic and palladium leaf on paper collage
25.25h x 19w in
George Dunbar
Malako- Marshgrass Series, 2023
Dark gray clay and Asian leaf over die keen
37h x 49w in
“I enjoy revisiting and changing certain series. I am frequently asked which piece of my work is my favorite. My answer is: the one I have yet to create.”
- George Dunbar
George Dunbar
Coin Du Lestin In Black and Gray, 2008
Black and gray-green clay with incised lines
60h x 48w in
SOLD
George Dunbar
Coin Du Lestin, c.1999
Red gold over red, black and mauve clay with incised lines
80h x 73w in
SOLD
George Dunbar
Neshoba, Surge Series, 2023
Palladium leaf over black and pale blue-green clay with incised lines
88h x 81w in
SOLD
George Dunbar
Coin du Lestin LX, 1962
Silver leaf over clay on board
12.50h x 11.75w in
SOLD
George Dunbar
Ahoyo - Surge Series, 2024
Moon gold, white and taupe clay with die keen
24h x 24w in
SOLD
George Dunbar
Fragment Series No. 1, 1/ 7, 2010
Cast bronze, nickel plated on granite base
3h x 9w x 4d in
2/7 available
1/7 SOLD
George Dunbar
Paquet Series No. 18, 2024
Blue tone metallic yarn dyed linen bundles mounted on canvas over panel
37h x 49w in
George Dunbar
Deity Abstract in Silver, 2 /10, 2010
Silver plate over cast bronze
12h x 13w x 7d in
George Dunbar
Bonfouca No. 65
Palladium and silver leaf over dark gray clay on panel
12h x 14.50w in
George Dunbar
Arrow, 1980
gold leaf over acrylic on board
9h x 8w in
Framed: 9.75h x 8.75w in
George Dunbar
Early Rouville, c 1955-60
Die keen with silver and gold leaf over yellow clay on board
14h x 22w in
George Dunbar
Early Rouville, c 1955-60 (detail)
Die keen with silver and gold leaf over yellow clay on board
14h x 22w in
George Dunbar
Rouville No.141, 2024
Palladium and moon gold leaf over taupe clay
20.50h x 22.50w in
George Dunbar
Bonfouca No. 67, 2014
Acrylic and palladium leaf on paper collage
25.25h x 19w in
George Dunbar
Malako- Marshgrass Series, 2023
Dark gray clay and Asian leaf over die keen
37h x 49w in
GD565
George Dunbar
PAQUET, 2023
Callan Contemporary
George Dunbar
MOON GOLD, 2019
Callan Contemporary
George Dunbar
MINING THE SURFACE, 2022
Callan Contemporary
George Dunbar
PALLADIUM, 2017
Callan Contemporary