Roger Bissiere
Francia, 1886 - Marminiac, Francia, 1964
In 1952, he was awarded the Grand Prix National des Arts. In 1954 and 1955 he is invited to the Venice and São Paulo Biennales in Brazil, and in 1959 and 1964 to the important Documenta in Kassel. Also in 1964 he was given a special mention at the Venice Biennale and his works were collected in the hall of honor of the French pavilion. Major posthumous exhibitions include the retrospective at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1986); the exhibition "Bissière 1947" at the Musée de l'Abbaye Sainte-Croix in Sables-d'Olonne (1997).
From 1898 to 1905 he was a student at the Collège de Cahors and was already painting instinctively at the age of seventeen. He enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, attending classes for five years. In 1910 he landed in Paris where he was a student of H. Gabriel Ferrier.
In 1910 he made his debut with a portrait at the Salon des Artistes Français. In the following years he traveled to North Africa and most likely to Rome and London. After the war, in order to survive, he turned to journalism and published a few artistic essays in "L'Esprit Nouveau."
At the end of the 1910s he began to associate with André Favory, André Lhote, and Georges Braque. These artists introduced him to Cubism, which marked all the production of the first part of his career.
His first solo show is organized in 1920 at Galerie Berthe Weil where, shortly afterwards, Paul Rosenberg offers him a contract. In 1921 he is selected for an exhibition of French art organized in Amsterdam by the Paris gallery L'Effort moderne and for a retrospective in Prague of 19th- and 20th-century French art.
He exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in 1919, 1921, 1922, 1923, at the Salon des Tuileries in 1924, 1927, 1928, and participated regularly in the Salon des Indépendants since 1927.
In 1923 Bissière left Galerie Berthe Weil for Galerie Druet where he remained until 1928.
From 1925 to 1938, although he was convinced that nothing could be taught, he was a professor at the Académie Ranson at which Bertholle, Manessier, Le Moal, Pellai, Vieira da Silva and many other successful artists were trained.
In 1937 he participated in the exhibition "Maitres de l'art indépendant 1895-1937" held at the Petit Palais and the Exposition Universelle in Paris.
The following year, convalescing, he stayed at his hometown, which inspired him to return to nature. He became interested in landscape and executed a series of works, outside the Cubist tendencies, that no one understood. These are canvases executed with a peculiar juxtaposition and superimposition of tones in transparency; rather than rendering external reality they represent a search for inner balance. In 1939 he moved to the old family home in Boissierette.
The outbreak of war and a serious illness that threatens to make him blind are disastrous events for his balance. From 1939 to 1944 he stopped painting completely, and as he himself said, "I had nothing to say, the events had drained me."
When he resumes painting in 1945, he does so in a completely new way. According to the technique of collage he began to make a series of peculiar tapestries by assembling fabrics of all kinds, sewn and embroidered by his wife. This new vitality will be a constant in his work.
In 1945, the newly founded Salon de Mai paid tribute to Bissière, Henri Laurens, and the engraver Hecht.
Galerie Drouin in 1946 gave him a major exhibition of sewn canvases and tapestries, and in 1951, Galerie Jeanne Bucher hosted an exhibition of his provocatively titled "Images sans titre."
Now famous, in 1952, he is awarded the Grand Prix National des Arts.
In 1954 and 1955 he is invited to the Venice and São Paulo Biennales in Brazil, and in 1959 and 1964 to the important Documenta in Kassel. Also in 1964 he was given a special mention at the Venice Biennale and his works were collected in the hall of honor of the French pavilion.
Major posthumous exhibitions include the retrospective at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1986); the exhibition "Bissière 1947" at the Musée de l'Abbaye Sainte-Croix in Sables-d'Olonne (1997).
Museums:
Agen, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum
Colmar, Musée Unterlinden
La Chaux de Fonds
Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne et d’Art Moderne de la Ville
Saint-Etienne
Zurich
Bibliography:
L. Harambourg, L’Ecole de Paris, 1945-1965, Neuchatel, Ides &Calendes, 1993 ; D. Abadie, Bissière, Ides et Calendes, Paris, 1986.
© Roger Bissiere, by SIAE 2023
In 1910 he made his debut with a portrait at the Salon des Artistes Français. In the following years he traveled to North Africa and most likely to Rome and London. After the war, in order to survive, he turned to journalism and published a few artistic essays in "L'Esprit Nouveau."
At the end of the 1910s he began to associate with André Favory, André Lhote, and Georges Braque. These artists introduced him to Cubism, which marked all the production of the first part of his career.
His first solo show is organized in 1920 at Galerie Berthe Weil where, shortly afterwards, Paul Rosenberg offers him a contract. In 1921 he is selected for an exhibition of French art organized in Amsterdam by the Paris gallery L'Effort moderne and for a retrospective in Prague of 19th- and 20th-century French art.
He exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in 1919, 1921, 1922, 1923, at the Salon des Tuileries in 1924, 1927, 1928, and participated regularly in the Salon des Indépendants since 1927.
In 1923 Bissière left Galerie Berthe Weil for Galerie Druet where he remained until 1928.
From 1925 to 1938, although he was convinced that nothing could be taught, he was a professor at the Académie Ranson at which Bertholle, Manessier, Le Moal, Pellai, Vieira da Silva and many other successful artists were trained.
In 1937 he participated in the exhibition "Maitres de l'art indépendant 1895-1937" held at the Petit Palais and the Exposition Universelle in Paris.
The following year, convalescing, he stayed at his hometown, which inspired him to return to nature. He became interested in landscape and executed a series of works, outside the Cubist tendencies, that no one understood. These are canvases executed with a peculiar juxtaposition and superimposition of tones in transparency; rather than rendering external reality they represent a search for inner balance. In 1939 he moved to the old family home in Boissierette.
The outbreak of war and a serious illness that threatens to make him blind are disastrous events for his balance. From 1939 to 1944 he stopped painting completely, and as he himself said, "I had nothing to say, the events had drained me."
When he resumes painting in 1945, he does so in a completely new way. According to the technique of collage he began to make a series of peculiar tapestries by assembling fabrics of all kinds, sewn and embroidered by his wife. This new vitality will be a constant in his work.
In 1945, the newly founded Salon de Mai paid tribute to Bissière, Henri Laurens, and the engraver Hecht.
Galerie Drouin in 1946 gave him a major exhibition of sewn canvases and tapestries, and in 1951, Galerie Jeanne Bucher hosted an exhibition of his provocatively titled "Images sans titre."
Now famous, in 1952, he is awarded the Grand Prix National des Arts.
In 1954 and 1955 he is invited to the Venice and São Paulo Biennales in Brazil, and in 1959 and 1964 to the important Documenta in Kassel. Also in 1964 he was given a special mention at the Venice Biennale and his works were collected in the hall of honor of the French pavilion.
Major posthumous exhibitions include the retrospective at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1986); the exhibition "Bissière 1947" at the Musée de l'Abbaye Sainte-Croix in Sables-d'Olonne (1997).
Museums:
Agen, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum
Colmar, Musée Unterlinden
La Chaux de Fonds
Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne et d’Art Moderne de la Ville
Saint-Etienne
Zurich
Bibliography:
L. Harambourg, L’Ecole de Paris, 1945-1965, Neuchatel, Ides &Calendes, 1993 ; D. Abadie, Bissière, Ides et Calendes, Paris, 1986.
© Roger Bissiere, by SIAE 2023
