Jean Fautrier

Jean Fautrier was a French painter, illustrator, printmaker, and sculptor recognized as one of France's prominent post-war painters. He is also known for his contributions to Tachisme, a French abstract painting style popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

Biography of Jean Fautrier

Born in Paris in 1898, Jean Fautrier, an illegitimate child, was raised by his grandmother. After the deaths of his father and grandmother in 1908, he joined his mother in London.

In 1912, he enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools but found their teaching too traditional. He left and attended the Slade School of Fine Art, which was more avant-garde but still left him unsatisfied. Fautrier then chose to work independently, focusing on painting, particularly nudes and still-lifes. He frequently visited the Tate Gallery, where Turner's works left a strong impression on him.

In 1917, the artist was drafted into the French Army, but due to poor health, he was soon transferred to the Auxiliary Corps. Battling a pulmonary ailment, he resided in the Tyrol from 1920 to 1921 and was eventually discharged from the army in 1921.

In 1939, as World War II began, Fautrier left the mountains and moved to Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, and Bordeaux before eventually returning to Paris in 1940 and resume painting. In Paris, he met several poets and writers, providing illustrations for their work. In January 1943, he was apprehended by the German Gestapo. Following a brief period of imprisonment, he escaped Paris and sought refuge in Châtenay-Malabry, where he embarked on the Otages (Hostages) project.

Jean Fautrier achieved significant recognition as a painter early in his career and remained a prominent figure in the public eye throughout his life. His initial exhibitions took place at the Salon d'Automne in 1922 and at the Fabre Gallery in 1923. His first solo exhibition occurred at the Galerie Visconti in Paris in 1924. However, Fautrier's success was predominantly celebrated in France, with limited recognition abroad. He received several accolades, including the Grand Prix International in 1961, and was the guest of honor at the 1960 Venice Biennial.

The artist passed away in Châtenay-Malabry, France, in 1964.

Jean Fautrier's Art Style

Jean Fautrier's early works, including still lifes, nudes, and landscapes, appear tentative and influenced by others. Notable pieces include a scumbled arctic landscape that showcases his admiration for J. M. W. Turner and an image of hanging rabbit skins reminiscent of Chaim Soutine and Wols. Fautrier held on to the Cubist color palette, possibly as a defense against accusations of bourgeois conservatism. It could be argued that, despite all the attention devoted to his textures, Fautrier's most significant achievement lay in his use of color - a side he would explore in his later work.

Fautrier's Otages (Hostages) series depicted dimensional, skull-like forms in fleshy pastel tones and were created while Fautrier, who had experienced harassment from the Gestapo, maintained a low profile in a psychiatric asylum outside Paris. During the nights, he reportedly overheard the Nazis torturing and executing randomly chosen civilians in the nearby woods.

In his later period, Fautrier's work took on an abstract character, primarily on a small scale, often utilizing mixed media on paper.