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Upper Galleries, Château

A. Paul Rebeyrolle

"Paysages"

published at 26/01/2021
Paysages, exposition de Paul Rebeyrolle au Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, 2021 - © Éric Sander

It is undoubtedly partly due to the fact that he felt constraint within his own body very early on - immobilised at the age of 5 by tuberculosis of the bone until his tenth birthday - that the work of Paul Rebeyrolle, born in 1926, is marked by vitality. Enormous amounts of energy emerge from his paintings and sculptures. The artist said himself that he embraced life from the minute he woke up, every morning as he rose, and was always delighted to get to work in his studio, to start creating.

He learnt a great deal during the years he spent recovering in his hometown in the Limousin region of France. Even in plaster, he never ceased to draw and paint. He was a lively man, and that was reflected in his art, which grew up alongside him. Nostalgia and dreams of his childhood had no place in his work, which was firmly rooted in the current times. That’s how his multiple series came to be, spread across the fifty-seven years of his career, from 1948 to 2005. More than just being up-to-date with current trends, Stéphane Vacquier would even go as far to speak of punctuality, because that is the extent to which his paintings reflect the issues of each era and portray a sort of uncompromising foresight.

At the age of eighteen, he was already an established painter and settled in Paris to quench his thirst for artistic discovery, spending his time exploring museums and exhibitions. He remained passionate about nature and the strong feeling that the quest for freedom was an absolute necessity.
This belief was reflected in his figurative paintings, that were often monumental. His painting became physical, like an act of rebellion against human stupidity. The role of the materials used became more and more important, and began to resemble sculpture. In a series of landscape paintings, entitled Grands Paysages, he represented sources, waterfalls and rocks. These paintings date back to 1978, and they actually show the satellite images that we can see today virtually, way before their time.
 

In 1995, he was present for the official opening of his very own museum, the Espace Paul Rebeyrolle in Eymoutiers. This original art centre was designed with architect Olivier Chaslin, and the artist, a friend of Georges Guingouin, created it as a place of cultural resistance, a ‘stronghold’. A permanent addition to the collections was his tribute to his friend, member of the Resistance, known as Le Cyclope. Apart from his collection, this venue is also available for temporary exhibitions from other artists, far from the ‘commodification’ of art.

In 2005, he painted his last works, with the rather suggestive titles: Le Néant (Nothingness) 1, 2 and 3. The last one dates from February of that year. He died on the 7th... Right up until the very end, this extraordinary artist blended his life and his art, working and breathing in the very same respiration.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Paul REBEYROLLE
FRANCE
 

Paul Rebeyrolle was born in 1926 in Eymoutiers (Haute-Vienne). In 1931 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone and was in plaster for five years. Later, he went to study in Limoges. At the age of 18, he went to Paris where he developed his knowledge of painting. He took up residence at La Ruche and met Madeleine Tellikdjian, nicknamed Papou, who he went on to marry in 1967. Between 1947 and 1949, he took part in the ‘Homme-Temoin’ (Man as Witness) movement, which prompted the return to Realism. Very quickly, he was considered a leader of the figurative ‘Jeune Peinture’ (Young Painter) movement, even though he refused to be part of a trend and travelled as much as he could.

In 1953, he joined the Communist Party. He broke with this party at the time of the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, and painted a canvas called À bientôt j’espère (I hope to see you soon), to mark the occasion.

In 1959, at the age of 33, he was awarded First Prize at the first Paris Biennale, with a monumental painting measuring 4.20 x 18m, entitled Planchemouton. This commissioned work was intended for the staircase at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (Palace of Fine Arts).

In 1963, he left Paris and settled with Papou in Aube. His work was displayed for the first time at the Maeght Gallery in Paris, a series of paintings entitled Les Instruments du Peintre, where matter was given a key role. He was one of a hundred artists invited to Cuba for the Salon de Mayo, and he contributed to a 55 m2 fresco. He also created Le Sol de Cuba I and II, which were the beginning of the series Guérilleros.

From 1968, he began working on a cycle of ‘political’ series. He depicted the Cold War in his series Coexistences (1970), the catalogue for which was prefaced by Jean-Paul Sartre. Three years later, he unveiled the series Les Prisonniers, and this time the catalogue was prefaced by Michel Foucault. He then followed on with the series Faillite de la science bourgeoise, Natures mortes et pouvoir and Grands Paysages.

In 1979, he was one of the rare living artists to have a retrospective exhibition held in his name at the National Galleries of the Grand Palais. A great number of artists came before him, including Picasso, Chagall, Hélion, Beaudin, Bacon, Dubuffet, Miró and Ernstet Tal-Coat.

In 1982, he completed the series Les Évasions manquées with no less than 60 paintings. Then he went on to produce the series On dit qu’ils ont la rage (1984), Germinal (1986) and Au Royaume des aveugles (1987), Les Grandes têtes (1989), Les Panthéons (1990), and Splendeur de la vérité (1993).

In 1995, upon request from the Mayor of Eymoutiers, he agreed to unveil his own museum, the Espace Paul Rebeyrolle, on the condition that thevenue would reflect him, and not become a museum that stands still, rather a place that is open and an integral part of the surroundings, a far cry from typical mainstream art. In 2002, he created a garden of sculptures here.

In 2003, he completed the series Clones in which he covers the abuses of science. Nineteen of these paintings are on display at the Claude Bernard Gallery.

He passed away on the 7th February 2005 at the age of 78, after completing his final paintings, Le Néant (Nothingness) 1, 2 and 3.

Complete Biography

MAIN SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015
Rebeyrolle vivant ! 60 ans d’une œuvre essentielle, Espace Paul Rebeyrolle, Eymoutiers, France
 
2012
Domaine national de Chambord, France
 
2011
Fondation Salomon, Alex, France
 
2005
Espace d’art Fernet Branca, Saint Louis, France
Plongeons dans la peinture, Espace Paul Rebeyrolle, Eymoutiers, France
 
2004
Clones, Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, France
 
2000
Rebeyrolle, Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
 
1999
FIAC (Galerie Jeanne Bucher), Paris, France
Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris, France
 
1998
Musée Arthur-Rimbaud, Charleville-Mézières, France
 
1994
Le Bestiaire, Galerie Larock-Granoff, Paris, France
Musée Courbet, Ornans, France
Splendeur de la vérité, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
 
1993
Philippe Griet Gallery, New York, USA
 
1992
Les Panthéons, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
 
1991
Office départemental de la culture, Aix-en-Provence, France
 
1990
Galerie Adrien Maeght, Paris, France
Grandes Têtes, Musée d'art moderne, Troyes, France
 
1989
Matière et existence, Centre culturel Saint-Benin, Aosta, Italy
 
1988
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France
Galerie Lelong (sculptures), Paris, France
 
1986
Musée d'art moderne, Céret, France
 
1985
Galerie Pierre Hubert, Geneva, Switzerland
 
1984
31ème Festival de Bellac, France
 
1983
Galerie Maeght-Lelong, Paris, France
Rebeyrolle Gernikan, Guernica, Spain
 
1982
Les Évasions manquées, Hospice Saint-Louis, Avignon, France
FIAC (Galerie Maeght-Lelong), Paris, France
Galerie d'art contemporain, Limoges, France
 
1979
Première rétrospective, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France
 
1978
Foire de Bâle (Galerie Maeght, Paris, France), Switzerland
 
1976
Natures mortes et pouvoir, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
 
1973
Galerie Maeght, Zurich, Switzerland
Les Prisonniers, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
 
1972
Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy
 
1971
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
 
1970
Coexistences, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
 
1969
Guérilleros, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
 
1967
Les instruments du peintre, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
 
1964
Galerie André Schoeller, Paris, France
Malborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, USA
 
1962
Galerie André Schoeller, Paris, France
 
1961
Malborough Gallery, Paris, France
 
1959
Galerie Creuzevault, Paris, France
 
1958
La pluie et le beau temps, Galerie Saint-Germain, Paris, France
 
1956
Maison de la Pensée Française, Paris, France
 
1954
Malborough Gallery, Paris, France
 
1951
Galerie Drouant-David, Paris, France

MAIN GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1993
Manifeste II, Musée national d'Art moderne, Paris, France
 
1990
Fondation temporaire Daniel Templon, Fréjus, France
 
1987
Villa Médicis (Académie de France), Rome, Italy
 
1971
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
 
1966
Galerie Schoeller, Paris, France
 
1962
Salon de Mai, Paris, France
Nitta Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
 
1959
John Moores Exhibition, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Biennale de Paris, France
 
1958
Documenta II, Kassel, Germany
 
1957
Salon de Mai, Paris, France
Biennale de São Paulo, Brazil
 
1956
Galerie Charpentier, Paris, France
 
1954
Salon de la Jeune Peinture, Paris, France
 
1952
Venice Biennale, Italie
 
1950
Galerie Drouant-David, Paris, France
 
1949
Exposition Art Mural, Avignon, France
 
1948
Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France
 
1945
Galerie du bac, Paris, France
Paysages, exposition de Paul Rebeyrolle au Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, 2021 - © Éric Sander
Paysages, exposition de Paul Rebeyrolle au Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, 2021 - © Éric Sander
Paysages, exposition de Paul Rebeyrolle au Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, 2021 - © Éric Sander
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