Pierre Carron (16 December 1932 – 19 March 2022) was a French

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, especially known for his portrayals of children and natural landscapes.

Biography

Born in

Fécamp Fécamp () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is around ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, he primarily studied drawing at the École Régionale des Beaux-Arts in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

. Because of the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, he was, for a time, the only student at the school. Later, he attended the

École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ÉnsAD, also known as Arts Decos', École des Arts Décoratifs) is a public grande école of art and design of PSL Research University. The school is located in the Rue d'Ulm in Paris. Profil ...

, then, in 1951, he entered the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, for 4 years, to study and work under the mentorship of Raymond Legueult. In 1957, he received the ''

Prix de la critique The Prix de la critique is a prize awarded by the Association des Critiques et des journalistes de Bande Dessinée to the best comic album released for a year in France. Previously, from 1984 to 2003, it was called ''Prix Bloody Mary'' and awarded ...

'' and, in 1960, the

Grand Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

. From 1961 to 1964 he took up residence in the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, ...

, where he met

Balthus Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his image ...

, director of the establishment at the time. They developed a deep friendship that Carron would celebrate in many of his works. He became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1967, a post he held for thirty years. He was the last professor at the school to teach exclusively in a figurative, realist, style of painting. In 1991, he was elected to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, to the chair previously occupied by

Félix Labisse Félix Labisse (March 9, 1905January 27, 1982) was a French surrealism (art), Surrealist painter, illustrator, and designer. He was born in Marchiennes. He divided his time between Paris and the Belgian coast from 1927.Bataille 1989, p. 188. In ...

, and in 2002 was made President of the Académie, as well as serving as vice-president in 2018 under

Patrick de Carolis Patrick de Carolis (born 19 November 1953) is a French TV journalist and writer. He has been president of French public service broadcaster France Télévisions from July 2005 to August 2010. Biography Journalistic career President of Fr ...

. Aside from his paintings, Carron's major works also include the

stained glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

in the

Orléans Cathedral Orléans Cathedral ( French: ''Basilique Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d'Orléans'') is a Roman Catholic church located in the city of Orléans, France. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Orléans. It was originally built from 1278 to 1329. It ...

and a double

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...

for the Saint-Etienne Cathedral in

Meaux Meaux () is a commune on the river Marne in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is east-northeast of the centre of Paris. Meaux is, with Provins, Torcy and Fontainebleau, ...

. Carron died on 19 March 2022 at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carron, Pierre 1932 births 2022 deaths 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters Members of the Académie des beaux-arts People from Fécamp Prix de Rome for painting École des Beaux-Arts faculty École des Beaux-Arts alumni Lycée Condorcet alumni École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs alumni Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques 20th-century French sculptors French male sculptors