GEORGES VALMIER

14 JANVIER - 27 FÉVRIER 2021

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GEORGES VALMIER

By Alain Barrault (grandson of the painter) : With the exhibition that is to take place at Galerie Zlotowski from 14th January 2021, each of us will be able to recognize both the breadth of his approach and its development. The museums, despite having some very beautiful pieces, exhibit them only very rarely... The gouaches - of which each version on the same theme is a work in itself - are abundant and of an exquisite variety, the oils, which were often the final version of the gouaches, amount to barely three hundred in number. Drafted into the army from 1914-1918, Valmier, who died prematurely at the age of 52, did not have the time to produce more work - and while he never let go of his brushes and easel, his concern for perfection, like the Old Masters, also explains the small number of paintings.

From the age of 15, Valmier was already drawing - portraits in particular- with a confident hand, knowing how to capture the features that create a likeness. At the Humbert Academy, then at the Beaux-Arts in 1907, where he was accepted into the studio of Luc-Olivier Merson, while continuing to draw (making countless life drawings which became gradually more cubist in treatment), he began painting: working in an impressionist style in his early canvases* and very quickly learning from Cézanne, he discovered Cubism around 1910-1911 (at 25) and painted portraits and still lifes in a prismatic style, as can be seen in la nature morte à la marionnette de gendarme and l’auto-portrait au chapeau exhibited here.

It was mainly during the War, when working with Gleizes, that his art was became rooted in Cubism and that he found in this pictorial revolution, from 1917/18, the means to fully express his feelings, his thoughts and his gluttony for colour. Although he established a privileged relationship from 1920 with Léonce Rosenberg, who took him on under contract and offered him the walls of his gallery L’Effort Moderne, he did not belong to any school; he remained a loner and pursued his quest for an art that was both spiritual and sensual - a personal gai savoir or joy of learning that enchants the eye. However, he was not cut off from the world: he designed sets and costumes for the theatre and for ballets, samples and models for fabrics, rugs, objects ... As a musician, he sang songs by Debussy, Ravel, Fauré or Satie in the biggest concert halls as well as in churches. From 1931, he turned to the abstraction, as already prefigured in his last Cubist works, not as a fad, a fashion trend, but as a “going beyond”, a final response to his research. Perhaps, just like a composer of music, abstractly writing notes on the score sheet in the expectation that having become a symphony others can then share with him the emotions and meaning of the work... As if, through this channel, Valmier finally achieved a sense of the universal becoming immersed in the world of Ideas.** It is to follow this path, towards ever more beauty, purity, truth, without any u-turns, that Galerie Zlotowski invites us today.

GEORGES VALMIER

GEORGES VALMIER

14 JANVIER - 27 FÉVRIER 2021

ABOUT

GEORGES VALMIER

WORKS

Georges Valmier

Figure, 1920

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Motif décoratif sur le thème des Voiliers, 1921

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Composition cubiste, 1921

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

La Leçon de piano, 1922

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Motif décoratif, 1925-1930

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Motif décoratif, 1925-1930

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Bouquet de fleurs, 1925

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Nu debout, 1926

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Les Boeufs dans la montagne, 1927

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Formes dans l'espace, c. 1931

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Composition, 1931

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Main à la bouteille, 1931

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Composition abstraite, 1932

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Composition abstraite, 1932

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Formes dans l'espace, 1932

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Georges Valmier

Georges Valmier

Formes dans l'espace, 1932

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Georges Valmier

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