Jean Fautrier

JEAN FAUTRIER (Paris,1898-Châtenay-Malabry, 1964).
"Fruits", 1942.
Etching on paper. Exemplary 19/50.
Presents frame with slight damage.
Signed and justified in the lower area.
Measurements: 38 x 57 cm; 50 x 69 cm (frame).
Painter and sculptor, Jean Fautrier was trained at the Royal Academy and the Slade School of Art. He began painting in 1921 and, only a year later, he began exhibiting at the Salon d'Automne in 1922, at the Galerie Fabre in 1923 and at the Salon des Tuileries in 1924. In 1927, he painted a series of paintings in which the color black predominated. His work is part of the anti-cubist trend analogous to that of Derain. In 1928 he began working on a series of engravings for an illustrated edition of Dante's Inferno, prepared by Gallimard. In the 1920s, he made a series of trips that made his work evolve, especially after 1926, creating paintings with cold and somber tones. Until 1933 he divided his efforts between sculpture and painting. In 1945 he developed his project Otages (Hostages), exhibited at the Drouin Gallery, which was his first artistic success. In the following years, Fautrier worked on the illustration of several works and made a series of paintings dedicated to many small familiar objects. In 1950, he invented a complex process mixing intaglio reproduction and painting that allowed him to print his works in numerous copies. He won the grand prize at the Venice Biennale in 1960. His late work is abstract, generally of small size, often combining mixed techniques on paper, with a geometric content. The Pierre Gianadda Foundation in Martigny, Switzerland, organized a retrospective in January-March 2005.