Henri Clément Serveau, also known as Clément-Serveau (29 June 1886 – 8 July 1972), was a French painter, designer, engraver and illustrator. Clément-Serveau produced works in a realist manner early on, but soon became interested in the new movements. He was influenced by his friend Louis Marcoussis and experimented with Cubism, utilising geometric patterns to give the illusion of form and space. Later in his career, he turned toward

abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...

with a post-cubist stance. He designed banknotes for the

Banque de France The Bank of France ( ) is the national central bank for France within the Eurosystem. It was the French central bank between 1800 and 1998, issuing the French franc. It does not translate its name to English, and thus calls itself ''Banque de ...

, produced large

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s and participated in numerous French and international exhibitions.

Life

Clément-Serveau studied successively from 1904 to 1914 at the

École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (; ÉnsAD) also known as Arts Decos' and École des Arts décoratifs, is a public grande école of art and design, constituent member of PSL Research University. The school is located in the R ...

and

École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

under Luc-Olivier Merson, in Paris. He began exhibiting at the 1905

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...

and then participated at the Salons des Artistes Français, Salon d'Automne, and Salon des Tuileries. From 1907 to 1909, he was a soldier in the 15th Battalion in the Vosges at Remiremont. In 1913, while still at Remiremont, the 21-year-old married Yvette Hindermeyer (then 17 years of age). There, he would realize many paintings, landscapes and portraits. In 1919, he became art director of Ferenczi & fils (Le Livre moderne illustré publisher), where he illustrated many books (seventy-eight) using the technique of woodcut. Colette was the literary director for several years. He also participated in thirty other books and received various medals for his work: medal of honor in 1920, bronze in 1921, silver in 1926 and gold at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1929. Thanks to his mentor, Luc-Olivier Merson, he was able to design banknotes for the

. From 1956 to 1970, he designed forty-two French and foreign postage stamps. In Paris in September 1933, he married Sara Sophie Wisoume (born in Smolensk, 1903). After a trip to Greece in 1934, Clement Serveau devoted himself to post-cubism, participating in numerous exhibitions, including the Salon des artistes français. He became Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1936. He also produced several

s and

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

s including a three-by-six-meter painting for the ''lycée de Meaux'', where he was once a student. He directed the ''l'École de fresques'' of l'

, and decorated the ''Pavillon du Tourisme'' at the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (Paris), now at the Pavillon de la Ville de Paris; Musées d'Art Moderne, Paris. In 1954 he realized a fresco for the Cité Ouvrière du Laboratoire Débat, Garches. He also executed mural decorations for the ''Plan des anciennes enceintes de Paris'' in the

Musée Carnavalet The Musée Carnavalet () in Paris is dedicated to the History of Paris, history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, ...

. He participated in numerous exhibitions in France, Sweden, London, the United States, and Canada. Clément-Serveau died in Paris on 8 July 1972. He was buried in Bourbonne-les-Bains, where he owned a house on Rue Vellonne. A room in the local museum (Musée municipal de Bourbonne-les-Bains) is dedicated to him.

Examples of graphic work

* Banknote: 5 francs Berger * Banknote: 300 francs, 1945 * Banknote: 1000 francs Minerve et Hercule * Stamps
Listed in sale-date order

Works

* ''A stylized pagan scene with a huntress raising her bow'', 1928 * ''Parades des Oiseaux'', 1930 * ''Anémones et pois de senteur'', 1932, Musée de la Société Historique et Archéologique, Haute-Marne, Langres * ''Karoti Grece, Le chemin de la Fontain (Paysage Grec)'', 1934, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen * ''Aphrodite et stellio'', 1934, purchase by l'Etat Français in 1935 * ''Route à Chio'', 1935, purchase by l'Etat Français in 1936 * ''Rêve'', 1946, purchase in 1947 b
Musée national d'Art moderne - Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
re
Musée national d'Art moderne - Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
/ref> * ''Un dimanche de pèlerinage à la Ghraïba de Djerba (Tunisie) '', 1953 * ''Femmes au bain'' * ''Déesses antiques flottant sur des nuages'' * ''Nature morte à la table et chaises'' * ''La Favorite'', Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France

References

External links

Paris, musée national d'Art moderne - Centre Georges Pompidou

Joconde, Portail des collections des musées de France. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen

Clément Serveau, French Banknotes

Clément Serveau, ''La Chemise verte'', oil on canvas, 92 x 60.2 cm, Christie's Paris, 24 May 2006

Clément Serveau, ''Le Bordel'', oil on canvas, 90 x 95 cm, Christie's Paris, 12 December 2005

Clément Serveau, ''Le pot bleu à la fenêtre'', oil on canvas, 46 x 55 cm, Christie's Paris, 12 December 2005

Clément Serveau, ''Déesses antiques flottant sur des nuages'', oil on canvas, 138 x 175 cm, Tajan, Paris, 9 June 2011

Agence photographique de la réunion des Musées nationaux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serveau, Clement 1886 births 1972 deaths Painters from Paris French modern painters French cubist artists 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters School of Paris French currency designers