.Narrative Figuration - Jacques Monory

Jacques Monory is a French artist (1934 - 2018).

Training as a graphic designer-painter-fresco artist-decorator in an Applied Arts school. Ten years of work at the art publisher Delpire (artistic direction). Jacques Monory finds himself in contact with the world of photographic documents, reproductions, magazines and art books.



Jacques Monory was one of the main representatives of the "Narrative Figuration" movement, which, in the 1960s, opposed both abstract, geometric, kinetic or informal painting and the art of the Nouveaux Realistic.

His paintings suggest heavy and threatening atmospheres. The themes are developed by series of paintings and the images he uses come directly from modern civilization. Photographic and cinematographic borrowings, the use of monochromy, the coldness of the touch and the composition characterize a singular style committed to representation.

His works are immediately recognizable, the subjects and dramatic atmospheres evoke American novels and noir films, his blue nights have influenced numerous filmmakers.
For me he is much more than a Hyperrealist or one of the main representatives of Narrative Figuration, he remains a unique personality, on the fringes of artistic trends and fashions.

This artist that my grandfather, Aimé Maeght, defended, devoting three exhibitions to him at the Galerie Maeght in Paris and who is one of the pillars of "Narrative Figuration", had never had an exhibition in the USA.
It was important to me that New Yorkers discover and know this artist whose work is imbued with references to American literature and cinema.
That's done !

I therefore had the pleasure of working on the organization of his first exhibition in the USA, at the Galerie Richard Taittinger, in 2018. It was a pleasure and an honor for me to give his work the international visibility that it deserved.

I believe it was an immense joy for Jacques to finally be presented to the American public who were brought up on Pop Art and who were unaware of the “Narrative Figuration” movement. The exhibition was a success, both with collectors, museums and the press.


Here I am, in 2008, with Alain Seban who was then president of the Center Pompidou and Jacques Monory in the exhibition that I presented at the Galerie Maeght with his paintings from the "Technicolor" series. A few months later, a “Tiger” exhibition was presented at the Maeght Foundation.

For the 1982 football cup, Maeght published 12 posters for the twelve cities in Spain hosting the matches. That of the city of Vigo is signed Jacques Monory who is one of the main representatives of the Narrative Figuration movement.
Deeply concerned with the violence of everyday reality, Monory suggests heavy and threatening atmospheres. If his work is often bathed in a blue monochrome, the artist was able to find warmer shades to evoke football and Spain.
I love the idea of ​​putting Vigo and 82 on the jersey.

Jacques Monory, who has always been accompanied by dogs, caresses Giacometti's dog in the courtyard of the Maeght Foundation.

PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS

2020 Maeght Foundation, Saint-Paul de Vence
2018 Richard Taittinger Gallery, New York USA
2017 Ernst Hilger Gallery, Vienna Austria
2016 Château du Val Fleury, Gif on Yvette
2016 Galerie Sonia Zannettacci Geneva, Switzerland
2015 Stampfli Sitgès Foundation, Barcelona, ​​Spain
2015 Capuchins of Landerneau, Michel-Edouard Leclerc Fund
2014 L’Aspirateur, contemporary art venue, Narbonne
2013 Space Studios, London, Great Britain
2009 Maeght Foundation, Saint-Paul de Vence
2008 Maeght Gallery, Paris
2007 Ernst Hilger Gallery, Vienna Austria
Espace Jean Legendre Souvenir, Compiègne Theater
2006 1970s, Galerie Maeght, Paris
2005 Mac/Val, Val-de-Marne Museum, Vitry-sur-Seine
Showcases W, Gallery Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria
2004 Claudine and Jean-Marc Foundation Salomon, Alex
Malakoff House of Arts
2003 Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany
Espace Paul Rebeyrolle, Eymoutiers
2002 Priory castle of Montsempron-Libos
1999 Museum of Fine Arts, Dole
Angers Museum of Fine Arts, Chemellier room, Angers
Regional School of Fine Arts and Grandes Galeries-Aître Rouen
Palais des Congrès, Paris
Gallery Guimpel fils, London, Great Britain
1998 Contemporary Art House Le Petit Chailloux, Fresnes
Sainte-Croix Museum, Les Sables-d’Olonne
Chartres Museum of Fine Arts
1997 Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
1996 Theater Gallery, Cherbourg
Villa Tamaris, La Seyne-sur-mer
1992 Gallery Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland
French pavilion, universal exhibition of Sevilla, Spain
1991 Gallery Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland
1990 Gallery Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
Cultural Center of Aosta, Italy
1989 Cordeliers Abbey, Châteauroux
1988 Cultural Development Center, Calais
Saint-Roch Museum, Issoudun
1984 ARC, Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris
Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1983 Maison de la Culture de Grenoble
1982 Chartreuse Museum, Douai
House of Culture, Nevers
Museum of Fine Arts, Pau
1981 Galerie Maeght, Paris
1980 Maeght Gallery, Barcelona, ​​Spain
Lunds Konsthalle, Lunds, Sweden
1979 Rennes House of Culture
1978 Galerie Maeght, Paris
Galerie Maeght, Zurich, Switzerland
1977 Maeght Foundation, Saint-Paul de Vence
Palace of Fine Arts, Charleroi, Belgium
Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
1976 Galerie Maeght, Paris
1975 Louisiana Museum, Humlebaeck, Denmark
Galerie Maeght, Zurich, Switzerland
1974 CNAC National Center for Contemporary Art, Paris
1973 Galleria Arte Borgogna, Milan, Italy
Cultural Center of Villeparisis
1972 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Holland
Saint-Etienne Museum
Neue Gallery, Aachen, Germany
1971 Gallery Klang, Koln, Germany
Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris
Palace of Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium
1969 Galleria II Punto, Turin, Italy
Studio d'Arte Condoti 85, Rome, Italy
Galleria Forni, Bologna, Italy
1968 Gallery B. Mommaton, Paris
1967 Gallery B. Mommanton, Paris
Galleria II Punto, Turin, Italy
1966 Gallery Schwarz, Milan, Italy
1965 Gallery H. Legendre, Paris
1959 Gallery La Hune, Paris
1958 Gallery l’intermission, Lausanne, Switzerland
1955 Gallery Kléber, Paris

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