Olivier Debré (14 April 1920 – 1 June 1999) was a French abstract painter.

Biography

It was following a visit to

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 ...

’s studio in 1941 that Olivier Debré, an honoured artist and member of the French Academy, moved from figurative painting to abstraction, and the influence of

André Lanskoy André Lanskoy (31 March 1902 – 24 August 1976) was a Russian painter and printmaker who worked in France. He is associated with the School of Paris and Tachisme, an abstract painting movement that began during the 1940s. Biography He wa ...

that awakened his marked fondness for colour. A major painter of colour fields of the Post-War period, this painter described his painting as ''"fervent abstraction"'' because it arouses emotions, emotion incarnated by him by the sign. "''I really tried to find how within a sign and without using conventions, I could express something without using illustration either.''" Olivier Debré After the majestic ''Signes-figures'' of the 1950s using a subdued palette and matter, the ''Signes-paysages'' from the 1960s appeared where the matter stretches, becomes fluid allowing light and transparency to emerge. A painter of immense spaces, Olivier Debré’s work has taken shape in large scale stage sets: curtains for the Comédie Française (1987), for the Hong Kong Opera (1989) requested by the foundation Louis Vuitton, and for the new Shanghai Opera House. ''"When I paint on the ground, there is a physical adherence that is sensual, almost sexual."'' Olivier Debré The painter's work has also been the subject of a fantastic contemporary ballet: ''Signes'' directed by the choreographer Carolyn Carlson. A unique performance that associates painting, music and dance, presented at the Bastille Opera in Paris in 1997 and performed again in July 2013.

Collections

Olivier Debré's works are collected all over the world, in the major international museums such as the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

in Paris, the Musée d'Histoire et d'Art de Luxembourg,

The Phillips Collection The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips (art collector), Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the ...

in Washington, the

Taipei Fine Arts Museum The Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM; ) is a museum in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. It is in the Taipei Expo Park. The museum first opened on August 8, 1983, at the former site of the United States Taiwan Defense Command. It was the first ...

, as well as in private collections and famous foundations such as the Fondation Gandur pour l'Art in Geneva. The planned Fondation Olivier Debré is due to open on the site of the Tours art school.

Major exhibitions

''Olivier Debré''. Retrospective, Jeu de Paume, Paris, 1995 ''Olivier Debré''. Retrospective, Art Museum, Reykjavik, 1996 ''Olivier Debré''. Retrospective, Museum of Fine Arts, Mexico / Modern Art Museum, Rio de Janeiro, 1997 ''Olivier Debré.'' Retrospective, History Museum, Beijing/ Modern Art Museum, Hong-Kong, 1998 ''Olivier Debré'', œuvres de la dation, Centre Pompidou, Paris 25/06/2003-15/09/2003 ''Olivier Debré, un abstrait lyrique, retrospective of the artist'', Musée d’Ixelles (Belgium) 24/02/2011-15/05/2011 ''Les Sujets de l’abstraction, Peinture non-figurative de la Seconde École de Paris (1946-1962)'', Fondation Gandur pour l’Art, Musée Rath, Geneva, 06/05/2011-14/08/2011 ''Signes'', ballet directed by the choreographer Carolyn Carlson, with music by René Aubry; stage sets and costumes by Olivier Debré, Opéra Bastille in Paris, July 2013 ''Olivier Debré, Fervent Abstraction'',

Estorick Collection The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art is a museum in Canonbury Square in the district of Islington on the northern fringes of central London. It is the United Kingdom's only gallery devoted to modern Italian art and is a registered ch ...

, London, 30/06/2021-26/09/2021

Works

*Espace thought, espace believes, Olivier Debré (1999). *Olivier Debré, by Olivier Debré and Pernoud Emmanuel (1995). *L'espace et le comportement, by Olivier Debré (1990). *l'oeuf dans le chocolat, by Olivier Debré (1997). *La marche de Mme Ouvrard, by Olivier Debré (1996).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debre, Olivier 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters 1920 births 1999 deaths French muralists Painters from Paris Prix Benois de la Danse winners