Édouard Pignon (12 February 1905 – 14 May 1993) was a French painter of the

School of Paris The School of Paris (french: École de Paris) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importance ...

Biography

Pignon was born into the family of a miner involved in the workers' movement. From a young age he was inspired by the paintings of

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

and himself painted whenever he was not working. In 1925, Pignon, moved to Paris where he first worked at Citroën and later at the Renault factory and also became a member of the CGTU. In 1932, he participated in the creation and activities of the Indélicats group which published an anarchist magazine. In 1933 he joined the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

while he was already a member of Association des écrivains et artistes révolutionnaires, where he met painters such as

Jean Hélion Jean Hélion (April 21, 1904October 27, 1987) was a French painter whose abstract work of the 1930s established him as a leading modernist. His midcareer rejection of abstraction was followed by nearly five decades as a figurative painter. He w ...

Auguste Herbin Auguste Herbin (29 April 1882 – 31 January 1960) was a French Painting, painter of modern art. He is best known for his Cubism, Cubist and abstract art, abstract paintings consisting of colorful Geometry, geometric figures. He co-founded the gr ...

, André Marchand,

Maurice Estève Maurice Estève, (2 May 1904, Culan ( Cher) – 29 June 2001), was a French painter. Biography Maurice Estève was born in the French town of Culan (Département Cher) on 2 May 1904. In 1913 he moved to Paris with his parents, where he soon b ...

and

Vieira da Silva Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (13 June 1908 – 6 March 1992) was a Portuguese Abstract art, abstract painter. She was considered a leading member of the European abstract expressionism movement known as Informalism, Art Informel. Her works featu ...

as well as writers such as

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He wa ...

. In 1935, Pignon was able to devote himself more to painting. From 1936 until the war, he was editor of the weekly ''

Regards ''Regards'' (also known as ''Regards Magazine'' or ''Revue Regards'', ''trans'': "Views") is a monthly French Communist news magazine published in Paris, France. History and profile Created in 1932 as a Communist title, ''Regards'' is primarily ...

''. His first solo exhibition was held in 1939 in Paris. After the German invasion of France, Pignon was mobilized in to the army. He returned to Paris in 1940 and immediately became a member of the

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

. His house becomes a place of meeting for artists and resistance members such as Aragon and

Elsa Triolet Elsa Triolet (born Ella Yuryevna Kagan; (russian: Элла Юрьевна Каган); – 16 June 1970) was a Russian-French writer and translator. Biography Ella Yuryevna Kagan was born into a Jewish family of Yuri Alexandrovich Kagan, a ...

who stayed there for some period. Alongside artists like

Jean Bazaine Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

, Esteve, Le Moal and

Alfred Manessier Alfred Manessier (5 December 1911, Saint-Ouen – 1 August 1993, Orléans) was a non-figurative French painter, stained glass artist, and tapestry designer, part of the new School of Paris and the Salon de Mai. Biography Manessier was born amo ...

, Pignon was one of "Twenty painters of French tradition", who exhibits in Paris at the Braun Galery in 1941 in order to resist the Nazi theory of "

degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

". With Édouard Goerg and André Fougeron, in 1943 he clandestinely founded the Front National des Arts, a branch of the National Front. After the war, he collaborated with

Jean Vilar Jean Vilar (25 March 1912– 28 May 1971) was a French actor and theatre director. Vilar trained under actor and theatre director Charles Dullin, then toured with an acting company throughout France. His directorial career began in 1943 in a sma ...

and designed the first Avignon festivals. Pignon also came in to conflict with Communist Party for not complying with

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

and continued to create figurative artistic works. In 1947 he married the French communist critic Hélène Parmelin. In 1951, at the invitation of his friend

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, Pignon went to the Fournas workshop in Vallauris. In 1956, after the Soviet invasion of Hungary, he was one of ten intellectuals of the PCF alongside who wrote a letter to the party leadership expressing their dismay and condemning the suppression of the Hungarian uprising. In 1960, he was one of the signatories of the

Manifesto of the 121 The Manifesto of the 121 (french: Manifeste des 121, full title: ''Déclaration sur le droit à l’insoumission dans la guerre d’Algérie'' or ''Declaration on the right of insubordination in the Algerian War'') was an open letter signed by 121 i ...

. Throughout the 1960s and 70s his worka have been exhibited in Metz, New York, Amsterdam, Lucerne, Milan, Udine, Padua, Venice, Trieste, Bucharest, Antibes. In 1980, almost all of the artist's works from national museums were collected in an exhibition at the Pompidou Center. In 1981, the French Post Office issued a stamp with a reproduction of one of his paintings, “Red Nudes.” In 1985, an exhibition of his works was displayed on three floors of the Grand Palais in Paris. From 1986, Pinion began to lose his sight. Édouard Pignon who had been suffering from progressive blindness, died in 1993 in La Couture-Boussey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pignon, Èdourd 1905 births 1993 deaths French ceramists 20th-century French lithographers 20th-century French painters French set decorators Communist members of the French Resistance School of Paris Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery