Jean Piaubert
Feydieu, Le Plan, Francia, 1900 - 2002
During the second half of the 1930s, he gradually approached abstraction, animating the surface of the canvas with the exaltation of forms, in a break with traditional space. Subjects become signs and symbols. The style recalls a certain geometry close to Magnelli whose presence was strongly felt in the Parisian artistic context. In the second half of the 1940s, he entered a 'baroque' phase, witnessed by the exhibition at the Galerie Creuze in 1946. Geometry becomes lyrical, sensitive, vibrant with mystery. Piaubert's art stands out in the panorama of abstraction as the heir to the thought of Mondrian and Kandinsky and, according to Van Doesburg's label, can be classified as representative of 'Art concret'. In February 1946, the first manifesto of 'Abstract Painting' was published and, in July 1947, the second manifesto in which Piaubert also participated together with Magnelli, Dewasne, Deyrolle, Dias, Duthoo, Hartung, Nouveau, Poliakoff, Poujet, Raymond, Reth, Schneider and Vasarely.
The son of wine growers, he spent his youth in the countryside and contact with nature would profoundly mark his art. After his classical studies, Piaubert began to paint and in 1918 he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, at the same time executing theatre decorations. In 1922, he moved to Paris where he attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and other ateliers in Montparnasse. His work attracted the attention of Paul Poiret, who ordered him designs for fabrics and sketches for theatrical costumes. During these years he met Emile-Othon Friesz, Raoul Dufy and André Derain. In 1932 he held his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Zack with works directly inspired by nature. His canvas Etretat was purchased by the State. In 1933, he participated in the Salon des Tuileries and in 1935, he began a period of isolation that allowed him to further his research into perfection. He did some typographic work for the Draeger printworks, which later allowed him to supervise the layout of the books he would illustrate himself. The canvases of this era The Blue Vineyards, Chartres, Reflections, are imbued with colour and restore space in the concern for art in total freedom. During the second half of the 1930s, he gradually moved towards abstraction and this tendency was confirmed with the work The Black Vineyards, of 1937. During the war years, he stopped painting and took part in war operations, but from 1940 he resumed his activity by animating the canvas surface with the exaltation of forms, breaking with traditional space. The subjects become signs and symbols. The style recalls a certain geometry close to Magnelli whose presence was strongly felt in the Parisian artistic context. In the second half of the 1940s, he entered a 'baroque' phase, witnessed by the exhibition at the Galerie Creuze in 1946. Geometry becomes lyrical, sensitive, vibrant with mystery. Piaubert's art stands out in the panorama of abstraction as the heir to the thought of Mondrian and Kandinsky and, according to Van Doesburg's label, can be classified as representative of 'Art concret'. In February 1946, the first manifesto of 'Abstract Painting' was published and, in July 1947, the second manifesto in which Piaubert also participated together with Magnelli, Dewasne, Deyrolle, Dias, Duthoo, Hartung, Nouveau, Poliakoff, Poujet, Raymond, Reth, Schneider and Vasarely. The same year he was invited to the first Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, where he exhibited regularly until 1952. During these years he was a regular participant in the exhibitions of the Galerie Denise René.
In 1949, his canvas Abstract Composition was purchased by the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris and in 1951, his 33 lithographs of Jean Cassou's XXXIII sonnets composés au secret received the gold medal at the 9th Milan Triennale. During this period, the metamorphoses his painting underwent highlighted the chromatic richness of his palette, the sensuality of his subject matter, in parallel with his penchant for darker and more mysterious colours. In 1951, the famous Galerie Bing gave him a solo exhibition on the occasion of the publication of a monograph prepared by Jean Cassou. In 1952, he discovered Greece where he returned in 1953, extending his journey to Turkey and Asia Minor.
His frequent travels inspired several works, including Delphes purchased by the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York, Journey to Greece, from the Amsterdam Museum, Orion from the Museum of Modern Art in Santiago de Chile. At the end of the 1950s, beginning of the 1960s, Piaubert slowly evolved towards an abstract landscape painting, abandoning all geometry and exploiting colour and material more intensively, which, from around 1964, was enriched with sand and pebbles
In 1961, fifteen paintings belonging to Venezuelan collectors were presented at the Caracas Museum.
Numerous solo and group exhibitions followed in France and abroad, testifying to the artist's role in contemporary painting. Often, important museums such as the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Kunsforeningen in Copenhagen, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi, the Museum of Modern Art in Caracas, the Städtische Kunsthalle in Mannheim and Düsseldorf have dedicated important solo exhibitions to him in recent decades.
In 1949, his canvas Abstract Composition was purchased by the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris and in 1951, his 33 lithographs of Jean Cassou's XXXIII sonnets composés au secret received the gold medal at the 9th Milan Triennale. During this period, the metamorphoses his painting underwent highlighted the chromatic richness of his palette, the sensuality of his subject matter, in parallel with his penchant for darker and more mysterious colours. In 1951, the famous Galerie Bing gave him a solo exhibition on the occasion of the publication of a monograph prepared by Jean Cassou. In 1952, he discovered Greece where he returned in 1953, extending his journey to Turkey and Asia Minor.
His frequent travels inspired several works, including Delphes purchased by the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York, Journey to Greece, from the Amsterdam Museum, Orion from the Museum of Modern Art in Santiago de Chile. At the end of the 1950s, beginning of the 1960s, Piaubert slowly evolved towards an abstract landscape painting, abandoning all geometry and exploiting colour and material more intensively, which, from around 1964, was enriched with sand and pebbles
In 1961, fifteen paintings belonging to Venezuelan collectors were presented at the Caracas Museum.
Numerous solo and group exhibitions followed in France and abroad, testifying to the artist's role in contemporary painting. Often, important museums such as the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Kunsforeningen in Copenhagen, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi, the Museum of Modern Art in Caracas, the Städtische Kunsthalle in Mannheim and Düsseldorf have dedicated important solo exhibitions to him in recent decades.
