Narrative Figuration #1 - By Yoyo Maeght

Narrative Figuration by Yoyo Maeght

This exhibition, at the Richard Taittinger Gallery, is, for me, like a wonderful family album where each artist is linked to a personal memory, a friendship, an artistic emotion or is a witness to my current commitment in the art world, which continues that of my illustrious grandfather, Aimé Maeght.

The United States and the artists of Narrative Figuration are intimately linked to the life of Aimé Maeght. We know little about his passions, his audacity, sometimes even his activism to defend and promote art in all its expressions, so relying on a few historical landmarks, let's embark on this formidable adventure of Art, Art and life.

On June 20, 1964, Robert Rauschenberg shook old Europe by winning the Grand Prix International de la Peinture at the Venice Biennale. A few days later, on July 27, with my sister Flo, under the watchful eyes of Joan Miró, Alberto Giacometti or Marc Chagall, among others, we presented a gold key to André Malraux, then Minister of State to General de Gaulle. This gold key opened the doors of the Marguerite and Aimé Maeght Foundation, which he came to inaugurate out of friendship for Aimé. James Baldwin was there and was given a place of honor at the gala dinner, where he was received alongside Alberto Giacometti. In the gentle Riviera nights, everyone applauded Ella Fitzgerald, who came to grace this evening that would mark a milestone in the adventure of the Arts. The Maeght Foundation was born and became one of the beacons of contemporary art.

Adami

Aimé Maeght, a man of his time and commitment, reminded, through the presence of these personalities, that on July 2, the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act ending all forms of segregation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The gesture may seem political, but in this year 1964, artistic expression in Europe was clearly marked by a political proposition proudly showcased in the exhibition Mythologies Quotidiennes inaugurated on July 7, at the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris. This exhibition aimed to demonstrate that there was another form of figuration than that developed by the artists of Pop-Art or Nouvelle Figuration.

Monory

A few years later, it was at the Maeght Foundation that Aimé Maeght organized L'Art Vivant aux USA , bringing together all expressions of contemporary artistic creation. The Foundation's rooms exhibited works by Ellsworth Kelly and Andy Warhol, among others. In the evening, in Miró's Labyrinth, visitors discovered racy films from the New York underground, performances by Carl Andre, Hans Haacke, and Robert Withman. The public was captivated by Albert Ayler's Free Jazz, or the minimalist music of Terry Riley and La Monte Young. Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Research Arkestra responded to the interventions of conductor Lukas Foss. The dancers of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company took to the rooftops of the Foundation and into the Giacometti courtyard, to music by John Cage, with sets by Jasper Johns, Robert Morris, and Frank Stella. The Maeght Foundation innovated in all forms of art: music, dance, theater, visual arts, architecture…

My grandfather's relationship with the USA dates back to 1946, when he went to New York to meet Marcel Duchamp. He had a crazy proposal to submit to him: to synthesize surrealism in Paris. It was during this trip that he understood that the future of art could not be played out without the Americans. With the young New York dealer Samuel Kootz, they scheduled, for 1947, the exhibition Introduction to Modern American Painting which, in Aimé's gallery, brought together, among others, works by Gottlieb, Baziotes, Motherwell. This was the first exhibition of American art since the war in the French capital. The exhibition, under the patronage of the United States Information Services , was accompanied by a catalog prefaced by the American philosopher and art critic Harold Rosenberg. The Parisian critics were virulent, Les Lettres françaises , the famous magazine of the communist poet Louis Aragon, demanded to know if these artists had studied art history. But Aimé Maeght didn't care, he made a name for himself in America and Time Magazine dedicated its first article to him. From then on, almost every one of his exhibitions was reviewed there, as, of course, Ellsworth Kelly's first solo exhibition at the Maeght Gallery in 1958, the second took place in 1964, followed by a group exhibition Cinq peintres et un Sculpteur which revealed a very young artist of 24: Gérard Fromanger, supported in the catalog by the poet Jacques Prévert. Gérard Fromanger joined the Narrative Figuration movement and became one of its major players, celebrated by masterful exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, in 1980 and 2016.

Arroyo

Aimé Maeght, drawn to the renewal and freshness of thought, even if it was revolutionary, never ceased to give emerging artists the means to express themselves, whether at the Maeght Foundation, in his galleries, or through his publications, magazines, prints, or books. Aware that groups, schools, or trends are in reality composed of strong individualities, he preferred to offer artists personal exhibitions. This was the case with the Italian Valerio Adami, whom he exhibited five times in his Paris gallery, starting in 1970.

In Spain, under Franco's dictatorship, artists collaborating with Maeght fled censorship and came to work in Paris, including Miró, Tàpies, Palazuelo, and Chillida. In 1974, with Spanish democracy in its infancy, Aimé saw it as an opportune moment to establish a gallery in Catalonia. Eduardo Arroyo was thus supported by the Maeght Gallery in Barcelona. In 2017, continuing Aimé's work, the Maeght Foundation offered Eduardo Arroyo a retrospective that gained him international recognition.

Jacques Monory, for his part, made his debut at the Maeght Gallery in Paris in 1976. Many exhibitions followed, including at the Maeght Foundation, with a major retrospective in 2020, which followed the monographic exhibition of Jacques Monory presented by the Richard Taittinger Gallery. This was the first exhibition in the United States for this artist, who draws part of his inspiration from American crime novels and films.

For Aimé Maeght, publications played an important role in the dissemination and renown of artists. Thus, in 1976, Hervé Télémaque began his collaboration with Maeght through the publication of prints, which was then followed by exhibitions. Of course, an impressive painting was added to the collections of the Maeght Foundation.

The monthly magazine L'Art Vivant , published by Maeght, whose first issue appeared in 1968, a year of widespread protests in France, largely opened its columns to new expressions, yet, under the direction of Jean Clair, the main multi-expression magazine in France, did not forget painting. Art Vivant became the relay, even the showcase of Narrative Figuration and offered artists a platform for exchange with their detractors: art critics, performers, and other adherents of the dematerialization of art. The exchanges, completely free, were sometimes violent. The history and exhibition presented by Richard Taittinger in New York offer, fifty years later, the most beautiful answer. Long live painting when it is of such high quality, both in its sociological, political, and, of course, artistic content!

Exhibition view

Having been aware since childhood of the work of these seminal figures of Narrative Figuration, and then convinced of the quality of each of these nine major artists, Jacques Monory, Bernard Rancillac, Erró, Peter Saul, Valerio Adami, Hervé Télémaque, Eduardo Arroyo, Gérard Fromanger and Cybele Varela, it is a pleasure and an honor for me to participate in the development of this first American exhibition dedicated to the Narrative Figuration movement, rich in diverse personalities from extremely varied backgrounds, but above all, a moment of creation that has become an essential part of Art History.

Some artists accompanied me during these weeks of preparation. I thank them for their expressions of friendship, which prove, if proof were needed, that great artists are also great men and women.

Yoyo Maeght, Paris, 2021.

The complete exhibition file here