POETRY in MOTION: Ceramics by Jean Lurçat and Paintings by Georges Bernède

LURÇATBERNÈDE

6 DUKE STREET ST. JAMES’SL O N D O N S W 1 Y 6 B NTEL .+44 ( 0 ) 2 0 7930 9332i n f o@wh i t f o r d f i n ea r t . comwww.wh i t f o r d f i n e a r t . c om

WHITFORDF I N E A R T

Ceramics by

JEAN LURÇAT

Paintings by

GEORGES BERNÈDE

12 November – 12 December 2014

6 DUKE STREET ST. JAMES’S LONDON SW1Y 6BNTEL. +44 (0)20 7930 9332 EMAIL [email protected]


All Works are for Sale

Lurçat-Bernède Pages_Whitford 13/10/2014 19:12 Page 1


Whitford Fine Art is proud to present an exhibition of French artists Jean Lurçat andGeorges Bernède. Bringing together two artists from different generations, traditions, andbackgrounds, the exhibition shows their common ground of the universal themes offreedom, movement and poetry.

An important and successful painter of the School of Paris, Jean Lurçat singlehandedlyrevived tapestry-making as an art form during the 1930s. Lurçat’s artistic eyesimultaneously wandered towards a multitude of other media, including engraving, bookillustrations and - most notably - ceramics. During the 1950’s Lurçat worked awayabundantly at the ceramic workshops of Sant-Vicens in the Southern French city ofPerpignan.

Imaginary and mythological sea and wood creatures and foliage are winding their ways in thickly applied saturated colours overlaid with brilliant glaze. These designsdemonstrate Lurçat’s fondness of the symbolic and poetry which formed the core of hisartistic expression. Thus a plate, a bowl, a jug or a tile, becomes an object of beauty andexquisiteness. Lurçat’s poetry is ultimately derived from the excellence of the Art Nouveaustyle.

Georges Bernède's quest for poetry and beauty on the other hand was achieved throughhis own human struggle. The son of a local carpenter in the bastide of Monsegur, nearBordeaux, Bernède was mocked for wanting to become a painter. Bordeaux is notoriouslyknown for its conservatism and its painters did not warm to Abstraction until the mid-1950s, twenty years after Abstraction became a recognized movement in Paris.

Bernède painted in solitude and his work was rarely shown. Consequently he did not sufferany pressure to conform to any commercial demand or intellectual expectations and hadthe chance to explore art freely. In his continuous search to express the poetry of Life,Bernède tried to establish an analogy to musical rhythm in his painting and thus naturallygrew to gestural painting, partnered with a monochrome palette. Whilst being deceptivelysubtle, Bernède’s paintings show dramatic movement and impact through the energeticapplication of the paint.

Whilst both artists were born to the same artistic spirit France during the first half of thetwentieth century, the difference in their artistic outputs offers a dynamic juxtaposition ofvibrant colours and monochromatic intensity, dream-like figuration and virile abstraction.

Poetry in Motion


21 JEAN LURÇAT

Sea Creatures, c.1955Glazed ceramic21 x 37 cmInscribed "Dessin J. Lurçat Sant Vicens, B - Z, 1/150" underneath


7 GEORGES BERNÈDE

Composition 90 – 17, 199090 x 65 cmOil on canvasSigned and dated lower rightSigned and dated verso


18 GEORGES BERNÈDE

Composition, 199165 x 50 cmInk on paperSigned and dated lower centre and verso

13 GEORGES BERNÈDE

Composition, 199176 x 56.5 cmInk on paperSigned and dated lower centre and verso

11 GEORGES BERNÈDE

Composition, 198876 x 56.5 cmInk on paperSigned and dated lower centre

16 GEORGES BERNÈDE

Composition, 199165 x 50 cmInk on paperSigned and dated lower right and verso


19 JEAN LURÇAT

Autumn, c.1955Glazed ceramic34 cm highInscribed "Dessin J. Lurçat Sant Vicens, L.G." underneath



1 GEORGES BERNÈDE

Composition 86-2, 1986Oil on canvas97 x 130 cmSigned and dated lower rightSigned, dated and inscribed verso


31 JEAN LURÇAT

Living Universe, c.1955Glazed ceramic36 x 54 cmInscribed verso

34 JEAN LURÇAT

Jester, c.1955Glazed ceramic25 cm diameterInscribed verso

32 JEAN LURÇAT

Siren, c.1955Glazed ceramic25 cm diameterInscribed verso



9 GEORGES BERNÈDE

Composition 90 – 05, 1990Oil on canvas130 x 89 cmSigned and dated lower rightSigned, dated and inscribed verso


2 GEORGES BERNÈDE

Composition 90 – 03, 1990Oil on canvas130 x 89 cmSigned and dated lower centreSigned, dated and inscribed verso



3 GEORGES BERNÈDE

Composition 80, 1980Oil on canvas45.5 x 38 cmSigned and dated lower right


36 JEAN LURÇAT

Rooster, c.1955Glazed ceramic20 x 20 cmInscribed verso

35 JEAN LURÇAT

Mermaids, c.1955Glazed ceramic20 x 20 cmInscribed verso

37 JEAN LURÇAT

Cockerel, c.1955Glazed ceramic20 x 20 cmInscribed verso

38 JEAN LURÇAT

Cat, c.1955Glazed ceramic20 x 20 cmInscribed verso

© Whitford Fine ArtExhibition management Gabriel TosoText by An Jo Fermon and Renata Molina LopesPhotography by Mario BetellaProduced by Artmedia Press Ltd • London


LURÇATBERNÈDE

6 DUKE STREET ST. JAMES’SL O N D O N S W 1 Y 6 B NTEL .+44 ( 0 ) 2 0 7930 9332i n f o@wh i t f o r d f i n ea r t . comwww.wh i t f o r d f i n e a r t . c om


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POETRY in MOTION: Ceramics by Jean Lurçat and Paintings by Georges Bernède