Jacques Monory is a French artist (1934 - 2018). He studied graphic design, painting, fresco and decoration at a school of applied arts. He worked ten years for the art publisher Delpire (artistic direction). Jacques Monory is in contact with the world of photographic documents, reproductions, magazines and art books.
Jacques Monory was one of the main representatives of the "Narrative Figuration" movement, which in the 1960s opposed both abstract, geometric, kinetic or informal painting and the art of the New Realists.
His paintings suggest heavy and threatening atmospheres. Themes are developed through series of paintings and the images he uses are directly from modern civilization. Photographic and cinematographic borrowings, the use of monochrome, the coldness of the touch and the composition characterize a singular style and commitment to representation. His works are immediately recognizable, the subjects and dramatic atmospheres evoke American novels and films noirs, his blue nights have influenced many filmmakers. For me he is much more than a Hyperrealist or one of the main representatives of the Narrative Figuration. He remains a unique personality, on the fringe of artistic trends and fashions.
This artist that my grandfather, Aimé Maeght, defended, dedicating three exhibitions to him at the Maeght Gallery in Paris and who is one of the pillars of the "Narrative Figuration", never had an exhibition in the USA. It was important to me that New Yorkers discover and know this artist whose work is full of references to American literature and cinema. And so it is done! So I had the pleasure of working on the organization of his first exhibition in the USA, at the Richard Taittinger Gallery, in 2018. It was a pleasure and an honor for me to give his work the international exposure it deserves.
I think it was a great joy for Jacques to finally be introduced to the American public who are fed on Pop Art and who were unaware of the "Narrative Figuration" movement. The exhibition was a success among collectors, museums and the press.
Here I am, in 2008, with Alain Seban who was then president of the Centre Pompidou and Jacques Monory at the exhibition I presented at the Maeght Gallery with his paintings from the "Technicolor" series. A few months later, an exhibition "Tiger" was presented at the Maeght Foundation.
For the Football Cup of 1982, Maeght published 12 posters for the twelve Spanish cities hosting the matches. The one for the city of Vigo is signed Jacques Monory who is one of the main representatives of the Narrative Figuration movement. Deeply concerned with the violence of everyday reality, Monory suggests heavy and threatening atmospheres. Although his work is often bathed in a blue monochrome, the artist has found warmer hues to evoke football and Spain. I love the idea of inscribing Vigo and 82 on the shirt.
Jacques Monory, who has always been accompanied by dogs, strokes Giacometti's in the courtyard of the Maeght Foundation.
PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS
2020 Maeght Foundation, Saint-Paul de Vence 2018 Richard Taittinger Gallery, New York USA 2017 Ernst Hilger Gallery, Vienna Austria 2016 Château du Val Fleury, Gif sur Yvette 2016 Sonia Zannettacci Gallery Geneva, Switzerland 2015 Stampfli Sitgès Foundation, Barcelona, Spain 2015 Capucins de Landerneau, Fonds Michel-Edouard Leclerc 2014 L'Aspirateur, place of contemporary art, Narbonne 2013 Space Studios, London, Great Britain 2009 Maeght Foundation, Saint-Paul de Vence 2008 Maeght Gallery, Paris 2007 Ernst Hilger Gallery, Vienna Austria Espace Jean Legendre Souvenir, Théâtre de Compiègne 2006 Années 70, Maeght Gallery, Paris 2005 Mac/Val, Museum of Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine Vitrines W, Gallery Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria 2004 Claudine and Jean-Marc Salomon Foundation, Alex Maison des Arts de Malakoff 2003 Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany Space Paul Rebeyrolle, Eymoutiers 2002 Priory Castle of Montsempron-Libos 1999 Museum of Fine Arts, Dole Museum of Fine Arts of Angers, Chemellier room, Angers Regional School of Fine Arts and Grandes Galeries-Aître Rouen Palais des Congrès, Paris Gallery Guimpel fils, London, Great Britain 1998 House of Contemporary Art Le Petit Chailloux, Fresnes Museum of Sainte-Croix, Les Sables-d'Olonne Museum of Fine Arts, Chartres 1997 Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland 1996 Gallery du Théâtre, Cherbourg Villa Tamaris, La Seyne-sur-mer 1992 Gallery Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland French pavilion, universal exhibition of Sevilla, Spain 1991 Gallery Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland 1990 Gallery Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland Cultural Center of Aosta, Italy 1989 Abbaye des Cordeliers, Châteauroux 1988 Centre de développement culturel, Calais Saint-Roch Museum, Issoudun 1984 A.R.C., Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 1983 House of Culture of Grenoble 1982 Museum of the Chartreuse, Douai House of Culture, Nevers Museum of Fine Arts, Pau 1981 Maeght Gallery, Paris 1980 Maeght Gallery, Barcelona, Spain Lunds Konsthalle, Lunds, Sweden 1979 Maison de la Culture de Rennes 1978 Maeght Gallery, Paris Maeght Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland 1977 Maeght Foundation, Saint-Paul de Vence Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi, Belgium Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany 1976 Maeght Gallery, Paris 1975 Louisiana Museum, Humlebaeck, Denmark Maeght Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland 1974 C.N.A.C. Centre National d'Art contemporain, Paris 1973 Galleria Arte Borgogna, Milan, Italy Cultural Centre of Villeparisis 1972 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Holland Museum of Saint-Etienne Neue Gallery, Aachen, Germany 1971 Gallery Klang, Koln, Germany Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium 1969 Galleria II Punto, Turin, Italy Studio d'Arte Condoti 85, Rome, Italy Galleria Forni, Bologna, Italy 1968 Gallery B. Mommaton, Paris 1967 Gallery B. Mommanton, Paris Galleria II Punto, Turin, Italy 1966 Gallery Schwarz, Milan, Italy 1965 Gallery H. Legendre, Paris 1959 Gallery La Hune, Paris 1958 Gallery l'entracte, Lausanne, Switzerland 1955 Gallery Kléber, Paris
