Jean Rustin
Encyclopedia
Jean Rustin is a French
painter
, and an important figurative art
ist.
in 3 March 1928. At the age of 19 he moved to Paris
where he studied at the School of Fine Arts
, in the studio of Untersteller. During the 1950s he was mainly preoccupied with abstract painting but from the 1970s he embarked on figuration. He created a bizarre world of human figures, where an existential dead-end is transformed into fright, abhorrence, pity but also relief.
The artist indicates: "I realize that behind my artistic creation, behind the fascination for the naked body, there are twenty centuries of painting, primarily religious, twenty centuries of dead Christs, tortured martyrs, gory revolutions, massacres and shattered dreams [...] I realize that history and maybe art history are engraved on the body and flesh of men."
The work of Jean Rustin is relatively little known.
Until the late 1960s, his abstract painting had a large following in France.
However, while most European and American artists were widening the gap between themselves and the figurative traditions that preceded Modernism, Rustin started to swim against the current, a decision which cost him dearly in the short term.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, and an important figurative art
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
ist.
Biography
He was born at Montigny-lès-MetzMontigny-lès-Metz
Montigny-lès-Metz is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.It is the largest suburb of the city of Metz, and is adjacent to it on the west.-External links:*...
in 3 March 1928. At the age of 19 he moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he studied at the School of Fine Arts
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...
, in the studio of Untersteller. During the 1950s he was mainly preoccupied with abstract painting but from the 1970s he embarked on figuration. He created a bizarre world of human figures, where an existential dead-end is transformed into fright, abhorrence, pity but also relief.
The artist indicates: "I realize that behind my artistic creation, behind the fascination for the naked body, there are twenty centuries of painting, primarily religious, twenty centuries of dead Christs, tortured martyrs, gory revolutions, massacres and shattered dreams [...] I realize that history and maybe art history are engraved on the body and flesh of men."
The work of Jean Rustin is relatively little known.
Until the late 1960s, his abstract painting had a large following in France.
However, while most European and American artists were widening the gap between themselves and the figurative traditions that preceded Modernism, Rustin started to swim against the current, a decision which cost him dearly in the short term.
Personal exhibits
- 1959 -1969 : Galerie La Roue, Paris, France
- 1980-1986 : Galerie Isy Brachot, Paris, France
- 1986-1993 : Galerie Marnix Neerman, Bruges, Belgium
- Since 1993 : Rustin Foundation, Antwerp, Belgium
- 1971 : ARC, Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, France, Catalogue
- 1982 : Maison des Arts André Malraux, Créteil, Paris, France, Catalogue
- 1994 : Städlische Galerie und Ludwig Institut, Schlosz Oberhausen, Germany
- MAC, Sâo Paulo, Brazil Markiezenhof, Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands, Catalogue
- 1996 The Delfino Studio Trust, London
- Museu de Arte Contemporaneo da Universidade de Sâo Paulo, Brazil
- 1997 Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de la Universidade de Chile, Santiago, Chili
- 2000 Veranneman Foundation, Bruxels, Belgium, and Frissiras Museum, Athens, Greece
- 2001 Halle Saint-Pierre and Galerie Marie Vitoux, Paris, France
Works in public collections
- Algeria: Musée National des Beaux Arts, La Hamma
- Germany: Hamburger Kunsthalle
- Städtische Galerie et Ludwig Institut, Sc
- Schloss Oberhausen
- England: British Museum, London
- Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
- Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham
- Brazil: Museu de Arte Contemporaneo da Universidade de São Paulo
- Chile: Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, Santiago
- Spain: Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona
- USA: Art Museum, Princeton University
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- Smithsonian Institution, Washington
- The New Orleans Art Museum, New Orleans
- France: Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Paris
- Fond Régional d'Art Contemporain de Seine-Saint-Denis
- Fond Régional d'Art Contemporain, Rhône-Alpes
- Fond Régional d'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne
- Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Monographs
- Rustin, Entretiens avec Michel Troche, textes de Bernard Noël et Marc Le Bot, Editions de l’Equinoxe, Paris, 1984.
- Edward Lucie-Smith, Rustin, London, 1991.
- Agnès Meray, Regards sur l'Œuvre de Jean Rustin, Thèse, Université de Paris I, 1992.
- Revue Enfers, Jean Rustin, April 1996, textes de Claude Roffat, Pascal Quignard, Agnès Meray, Jean Clair, Françoise Ascal, Edition Pleine Marge, Paris.