Of course, it is not easy to find old works for my telephone series, but all the same, this sublime poster by Jules Chéret dates from 1890! Telephone music services and coin-operated jukeboxes are not 20th century innovations but 19th century ones. The Théâtrophone, and its London equivalent the Electrophone, were the first commercial systems to broadcast operas and other musical events over a network of telephone wires. Chéret's poster depicts a fashionable Parisian woman dressed for an evening at the Opera, listening to live music in stereo for five cents.
"Nabis" series. Félix Vallotton, "Au marché", 1887. Vallotton was born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1865 - he became a French citizen in 1900. In 1882 he moved to Paris to study art at the Académie Julian. His first paintings, mainly portraits, are in the academic tradition. In 1885 he painted his first self-portrait, which received an "honourable" mention at the Salon des artistes français in 1886. Over the next decade, Vallotton painted, wrote articles and art reviews, and made numerous prints. He joined the "Nabis" group in 1893, and before that he had taken up photography around 1889. His spontaneous framing was reflected in his paintings; he captured subjects from behind, rows of rooms, and plunging or low-angle scenes, like photographic snapshots taken on the spot and reinterpreted and sublimated in painting. We are close to naïve art or art brut, like Dubuffet or Chaissac.
Tsuguharu Foujita, chair bar on her fingers, earring, flip-flop and sublime bracelet, not a bad look for 1928. And what a beautiful photo of André Kertesz!
Soon, the new generations will not even understand what this object is! Dali's "Aphrodisiac Telephone", 1938. Yet what could be more natural than a lobster on a telephone, natural for a surrealist, of course. Alfred, don't languish, I don't have a minute to call you. Photographed in 1954 on the set of the film "Dial M for Murder".
Oh my dog! We've got it all: the phone sex, the doggie, the walls, everything! The beautiful Joan Collins sees life in pink, photo by Slim Aarons, 1955. But who is calling me? Captain Haddock drawn by Hergé. "Ohhh... Alright..." by Roy Lichtenstein, painted in 1964, iconic work of Pop Art.
Frankly, he remains the youngest, the most daring, the most inventive, never afraid to flout his image, in short he remained free! I have put together these two huge lithographs (125 cm high) with photomontage, as they were published at the same time, in 1971, by my grandfather. They are perfect for my telephone series. Joan Miró, on the left "The Telephone Maiden" and on the right "The Night Watchman".
Our artists made in France are quite good! Ivan Messac, "Portrait robot starlette", 1969. Don't miss his next one man show, at Art Paris, on the Galerie Taglialatella's stand. I had the chance (and privilege) to see some of his works in preview, it's great !
It's not easy to make a telephone series, but there are some nuggets, like this "Wrapped Telephone, Project for L. M. Ericsson Model", by Christo, 1985. In progress in Paris, the Arc de Triomphe packaging. Telephone series with this work "Nuclear Telephone Discovered in Hell" from 2003, by Abu-Bakarr Mansaray born in Sierra Leone, discovered during the Taipei Biennale. One of the most important artists today, always humorous, very beautiful constructions. Daniel Arsham, collaboration with Dior for this "Eroded relic Telephone", 2020, an ultra collectible edition of 250 copies!
