Véronique Filozof (8 August 1904 – 12 January 1977) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

-born

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

, and

muralist 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'' ...

Biography

Filozof was born Véréna Valérie Sandreuter in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

on 8 August 1904. Her father Rudolf Sandreuter was a blacksmith and musician, and her great-uncle was the painter Hans Sandreuter. Filozof was educated at the School of Fine Arts in Basel alongside her sister Élisabeth and her brother Hans. in 1922, Filozof moved to

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

in order to improve her French. The following year, in 1923, Filozof married Paul Modin, a school administrator. Filozof and Modin lived in

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...

and had two children Paulette and Jean-Guy, before divorcing in 1937. In 1940, Filozof married Georges Filozof (1896–1974), a

mining engineer Mining engineering is the extraction of minerals from the ground. It is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying. A mining engineer m ...

of Polish descent. Following the

German Occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

in June 1940, Filozof fled Mulhouse with her husband and children to

Elne Elne (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It lies in the former province of Roussillon, of which it was the first capital, being later replaced by Perpignan. Its inhabitants are still called ''Illibéri ...

, where she became involved with

Swiss Red Cross The Swiss Red Cross ( German: ', French: ', Italian: ', Romansh: '), or SRC (''SRK'' in German, ''CRS'' in French and Italian), is the national Red Cross society for Switzerland. The SRC was founded in 1866 in Bern, Switzerland. In accord ...

efforts at . In 1941, Filozof moved to

Sarlat-la-Canéda Sarlat-la-Canéda (; ), commonly known as Sarlat, is a commune in the southwestern French department of Dordogne, a part of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Sarlat and La Canéda were distinct towns until merged into one commune in March 1965. Geography Th ...

for her husband's work and established a sewing workshop to support local families and the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

network 'Bataillons de la Liberté du Sud'. During this time Filozof formed close ties with the poet . In 1946, the family returned to Mulhouse. Filozof began to devote herself to painting, and established an artistic space in her attic. The artistic space, known as 'Le Grenier de Véronique', became a meeting place for the local post-war

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

Artistic career

Filozof's professional artistic career spanned from 1948–1976, with her continuing to produce work up until her death in 1977. In 1948, with encouragement from , Filozof began to develop her distinctive style. Believing all art in all forms to be interconnected, Filozof started to incorporate quotes and excerpts from poets, writers and philosophers into her artworks . Her first exhibition, held in October 1949 at the Galerie Rivière in Sarlat-la-Canéda, was well received and praised by art critic

George Besson George Besson (25 December 1882 – 19 June 1971) was a French art critic, and the founder and director of ''Cahiers d'Aujourd'hui''. His wife Adèle was the subject of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's ''Portrait of Adèle Besson'', and he was the subjec ...

Filozof was known for her ink drawings and for her mural decorations in both civil and religious settings. Filozof received the Swiss Prize for Best Children's Book twice in 1962 for ''Les Fables de La Fontaine'', and in 1965 for ''Le Vogelgryff''. During her career Filozof set up a studio in Paris and was associated with

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (; 31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor of the School of Paris, École de Paris (School of Paris). His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" a ...

and formed friendships with , Robert Morel and

Aurélie Nemours Aurelie Nemours (29 October 1910 – 27 January 2005) was a French painter who made abstract geometrical paintings and was highly influenced by De Stijl, or neoplasticism. Biography Aurelie Nemours was born 29 October 1910 in Paris, France. ...

. In the 1960s Filozof was a part of .

Murals

In 1969, Filozof created a seven panel

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

mural for then headquarters of the Comité Interprofessionnel Logement Guyenne Gascogne in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Decorating the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

of the ''Le Médoc'' office building, the mural depicts iconic elements of Bordeaux's landscape and culture and includes quotes from

Simone Weil Simone Adolphine Weil ( ; ; 3 February 1909 – 24 August 1943) was a French philosopher, mystic and political activist. Despite her short life, her ideas concerning religion, spirituality, and politics have remained widely influential in cont ...

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

, Aristote,

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principal so ...

, Antoine de Saint Exupéry and . In 1972 Filozof created a fresco in the entrance hall of a kindergarten in

Manosque Manosque (; Provençal Occitan: ''Manòsca'' in classical norm or ''Manosco'' in Mistralian norm) is the largest town and commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. However, it is not the ''préfecture'' (capital ...

. Filozof created a number of murals for private clients, particularly in

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...

, Mulhouse, and Basel. A number of Filozof's murals are no longer in existence, including frescoes at a retirement home in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and a series of 15 tapestries for Saint-François d'Assise Hospital in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. In religious architecture, she created a ''Chemin de Croix'' (held in a private collection) and a Christmas Nativity Scene, acquired by the State and presented in 1956 at the Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut in

Ronchamp Ronchamp () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is located between the Vosges and the Jura mountains. Mining Museum Mining began in Ronchamp in the mid-18th century and h ...

. Some surviving works include a marble engraving in the Sacré-Cœur Church in

, the stained-glass window La Création in the Cheuge Church in Côte-d'Or (dated 1975), and a mural panel, ''Jérusalem au temps du Christ'', in the Temple Saint-Jean in Mulhouse (1973). Other works have been lost, such as the seven

Calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

scenes created for the church of

Plonévez-du-Faou Plonévez-du-Faou () is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Geography Climate Plonévez-du-Faou has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Plonéve ...

Legacy

Following Filozof's death in 1977 a tribute was held at the Théâtre Municipal in Sarlat-la-Canéda. In 1978 tributes were held at the Ecole élémentaire Jules Ferry in Sarlat-la-Canéda, at the Salon d'Art Sacré in Paris and by the at the Galerie A.M.C. in Mulhouse. Filozof's grave at the Cimetière protestant de Mulhouse is engraved with Filozof's illustration of God, and has protected status. The nursery school "École maternelle publique Véronique Filozof" in

, and the ''Cour Véronique Filozof'' in

are named after Filozof.

Book illustrations

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control 20th-century Swiss painters People from Basel-Landschaft 20th-century Swiss women painters 1904 births 1977 deaths Swiss women painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French women painters 20th-century French illustrators 20th-century Swiss illustrators French women illustrators Swiss women illustrators French muralists Swiss muralists