Émile-Othon Friesz
Le Havre, Francia, 1879 - Parigi, 1949
He attends the School of Fine Arts of Le Havre, from 1894 to 1897; in Charles Lhullier's Atelier he meets Raoul Dufy with whom he establishes a deep friendship. Thanks to a scholarship, he leaves Le Havre and moves to Paris (1897) where he enters the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, attending the Atelier of Léon Bonnat. At the end of the 1900s, his friend Dufy joins him in Paris. He often goes to the Louvre to copy the artists of the fifteenth century, but also Rubens and Delacroix. Another place of study and source of inspiration is the Galerie Durand-Ruel where the works of the Impressionists are exhibited. He himself would later say: "For painters like me, who came to painting around 1900, armed with the primary classical education, their nascent ability and their fresh sensations, the example of Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, was the only contemporary truth ". From Durand-Ruel he finally meets Guillaumin, passing through Paris and,fascinated by the artist's works and personality, he joins him in Limousin, on the banks of the Creuze River, where Guillaumin lives. He paints numerous landscapes in the Impressionist style with light colours and brushstrokes, while the dynamic stroke is revealing of his lyrical temperament.
In 1902, while painting on the Pont Neuf in Paris, Friesz meets Pissarro. In contact with his master, he changes his style, trying to fix the "fleeting moment", expressing light and movement through small touches of colour. The canvas painted with Pissarro, exhibited at the Salon de la Societé des Amis des Arts du Havre, will cost him violent controversy on the part of local critics, not yet accustomed to this type of painting. The same year Friesz and Dufy install themselves at the "Bateau Lavoir" in Montmartre; it is a period of almost absolute poverty.
In 1903 he heads to Normandy and executes landscapes "en plein air" translating horses, fairs and markets into images. The same year he participates for the first time in the Salon des Indépendants. In 1904, in Paris, he meets Matisse. It is an encounter that will determine his future painting; from this moment, in fact, Friesz's language becomes more ardent in colour, more vibrant.
In 1905 he paints with Matisse, Camoin, Manguin and Marquet and with the latter he exhibits at the Galerie Berthe Weill, at the Galerie Druet and at the Galerie-librairie Prath et Maynier. His style is still influenced by Impressionism.
The same year he exhibits for the first time at the Salon d’Automne in Paris some views of cities by the sea, bathers and portraits. these are paintings that co-exist in alternations and in the play of contrasts: the colours are the equivalent of sunlight. It is a period of intense research and study in an attempt to break away from the impressionist manner. In the next room are exhibited the works of Matisse, Derain, Marquet, Camoin, Manguin, Girieud, Vlaminck, Pichot that give scandal to the arrogance, the exuberant freedom and the violence of the colours so as to be worth the name Fauves to the group (Beasts).
In April, the Galerie des Collectionneurs in Paris organises his first personal exhibition with forty-six works, most of them painted in Normandy, some in the Creuze and others in Paris.
In 1906 he travels to Belgium with his friend Braque. Both natives of Normandy, they prefer the sweet and more familiar luminosity of the Nordic ports to the sunny landscapes of the Midi. In the series of canvases that focus on the city of Antwerp, Friesz plays with contrasts, basing himself on a palette of light and harmonious tones in the ranges of pinks, pale blues, bright greens and intense whites. The virgin canvas, visible in some places, reinforces the light effect. This painting, by now, has almost nothing in common with the impressionist one. During their stay, Friesz and Braque always work together, the easels are placed side by side and their paintings are so close, both in subjects and in compositions and colours that unsigned ones present serious problems of distinction. We can note in Friesz a more marked gestures and a greater dynamism that will become the fundamental characteristics of his style.
On his return to Paris, he exhibits these canvases at the Salon d’Automne, in room III, near those by Matisse, Marquet, Derain, de Vlaminck. The critic Louis Vauxcelles, in “Gil Blas”, notes the works of Friesz whose style has significantly changed: “Othon Friesz enlists under the banner of Matisse and Manguin. He broadens his manner and illuminates the canvas with fiery tones, while at the same time retaining his qualities as a builder and draftsman with a nervous stroke. We rejoice in this new adventure of a young artist who is looking for and who will classify himself”.
A new journey marks the second phase of Fauve painting. In June 1907 he reached Braque in L’Estaque, then in August he leaves for La Ciotat. Friesz, like the other Fauves, transposes his vision of nature onto the canvas. The shades of the palette, more vivid than ever, are applied next to each other and surrounded by a coloured stroke (reminiscent of the Nabis painting). The dynamic trait and the taste for a solid composition are undoubtedly the main contributions of Friesz to Fauvism. Unlike Braque, Cubism remains outside of Friesz's interests. Many works from this "Mediterranean" period are purchased by the merchant Kanhweiler and later exhibited at the Salon d’Automne.
Visiting the Salon des Indépendants of 1907, the merchant Eugène Druet notices the paintings of Friesz and, on the advice of Auguste Rodin, offers him a contract. The poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire talks about him in the magazine “Je dis tout”.
The period running from 1908 to 1912 is called by the artist "evolution towards the possession of form"; coinciding with the sensational affirmation of Cézanne's painting (Friesz has already met at the Louvre eight years earlier); in fact, in Friesz there is a return to form and a departure from Fauvism, the technique is profoundly modified due to the emergence of new compositional needs; the palette darkens by favouring ocher, brown, green and austere blue tones. In 1911 he attenuates the colour and the painting became more and more classic. He travels to Germany, Italy, Portugal and on his return Druet organizes a major retrospective for him.
From 1913 Friesz frees himself from the exclusive contract with Druet and exhibited his new canvases at the Galerie Marseille. On the occasion of the Armory Show he sends some canvases to Chicago and New York. The outbreak of the war in 1914 has interrupted all activities. In 1917 the Galerie Druet sells the canvas The acrobats to the Museum of Stuttgart. It is his first painting to enter a public collection. A new journey, taken place in 1920 in Italy, leads him to Piedmont, to Rocca Sparvera and then to Tuscany. In 1922 he intensifies relations with the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune which organises two exhibitions for him; the following year he participates in the Salon des Tuileries and participated in the II Roman Biennale with the work Family of peasants. The year 1924 has been characterised by new sales to Museums: Garden of Toulon, acquired by the Stockholm Museum; the Grenoble Museum buys four canvases and The Skaters is sold to an American museum.
Now Friesz has finally achieved the fame he has once aspired to. In 1926 the Galerie Katia Granoff offers him the purchase of all the production and in the following years he would organize numerous exhibitions of the artist.
In 1924, the works of many contemporary French artists from the important Johs Rump collection have been left in legate at the Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts in Copenhagen. In this collection, Friesz is represented by 13 paintings.
In 1933 an important commission forces him to stop his usual movements within France; in fact, the Gobelins factory ask him to create the cartoons for a tapestry depicting the allegory of Peace which was only completed in 1936.
Despite the heavy commitment, the strong desire for freedom leads him to resume his stays in the most loved places: Normandy and the Atlantic coast where he paints numerous marinas.
A second state commission commits him to the vast project for the International Exhibition of 1937. Friesz shares the vast pictorial decoration of the café in the Théâtre Chaillot with his friend Dufy, depicting the course of the Seine. The work consists of two monumental parts of forty square meters each.
In 1938 Friesz has been invited by the Carnegie Institut of Pittsburgh to be part of the jury of the annual Salon. Taking advantage of his trip to the United States, the Galerie Durand-Ruel in New York organises an exhibition for him.
During the Second World War, Friesz stays in Paris with his family and paints beautifully still lives and flower compositions that can be interpreted as the need to show the presence of nature in his canvases, which has now become inaccessible due to the impossibility of traveling. The Galerie Pétridès in Paris quickly organises two solo shows for him, in 1941 and 1943.
At the end of the war, he returns to Honfleur, a place already visited in 1903. In the following years he will often reach the picturesque town of Normandy, for longer and longer stays. In September 1947 he is located in La Rochelle and when his wife recommends him to return to participate in the Salon d’Automne, Friesz replies "I don't care about the Salon d’Automne and all the Salons". The canvases painted in Normandy have been presented only in March 1948 at the Galerie Pétridès and, during the summer, at the Galerie du National in Lucerne, for his last exhibition.
Musei in cui sono conservate le sue opere:
Albi (Musée Toulouse-Lautrec), Arles, Arras, Grenoble, Le Havre, Lille (Musée de Picardie), Limoges, Lione, Parigi (Musée National d’Art Moderne, Musée de la Guerre, Musée de l’Aviation), Poitiers, Rouen, Saint-Malo, Saint-Sébastien, Toulon, Troyes (Musée d’Art Moderne, coll. P. Lévy) Francia
New York (Museum of Modern Art), Los Angeles, Baltimora, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Stati Uniti
Losanna, Zurigo, Ginevra (Musée d’Art e d’Histoire e Musée du Petit Palais) Svizzera
Mosca, San Pietroburgo, Russia
Oslo, Norvegia
Stoccolma, Svezia
Vienna, Austria
Anversa, Olanda
Belgrado, Serbia
Bergen, Berlino, Eberfeld, Brema, Germania
Bruxelles, Belgio
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Copenaghen, Danimarca
Leeds, Gran Bretagna
Bibliografia:
Seconda Biennale romana, Mostra internazionale di belle arti Roma, Roma, Casa Editrice d’Arte Enzo Pinci, 1923; M. Gauthier, Othon Friesz, Genève, Editions Pierre Cailler, 1957; P. C. Santini, Il paesaggio nella pittura contemporanea, Venezia, Electa Editrice, 1971; F. Lespinasse, La Normandie vue par les peintres, Losanna, Edita, 1988 ; R. Martin, O. Aittouarès, Emile Othon Friesz, L’oeuvre peint, Paris, Editions Aittouarés, 1995; Le fauvisme ou «l’épreuve du feu», Éruption de la modernité en Europe, Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris Musées, 1999; Les années fauves, 1904-1908, Paris, Somogy Editions d’art, 2000
In 1902, while painting on the Pont Neuf in Paris, Friesz meets Pissarro. In contact with his master, he changes his style, trying to fix the "fleeting moment", expressing light and movement through small touches of colour. The canvas painted with Pissarro, exhibited at the Salon de la Societé des Amis des Arts du Havre, will cost him violent controversy on the part of local critics, not yet accustomed to this type of painting. The same year Friesz and Dufy install themselves at the "Bateau Lavoir" in Montmartre; it is a period of almost absolute poverty.
In 1903 he heads to Normandy and executes landscapes "en plein air" translating horses, fairs and markets into images. The same year he participates for the first time in the Salon des Indépendants. In 1904, in Paris, he meets Matisse. It is an encounter that will determine his future painting; from this moment, in fact, Friesz's language becomes more ardent in colour, more vibrant.
In 1905 he paints with Matisse, Camoin, Manguin and Marquet and with the latter he exhibits at the Galerie Berthe Weill, at the Galerie Druet and at the Galerie-librairie Prath et Maynier. His style is still influenced by Impressionism.
The same year he exhibits for the first time at the Salon d’Automne in Paris some views of cities by the sea, bathers and portraits. these are paintings that co-exist in alternations and in the play of contrasts: the colours are the equivalent of sunlight. It is a period of intense research and study in an attempt to break away from the impressionist manner. In the next room are exhibited the works of Matisse, Derain, Marquet, Camoin, Manguin, Girieud, Vlaminck, Pichot that give scandal to the arrogance, the exuberant freedom and the violence of the colours so as to be worth the name Fauves to the group (Beasts).
In April, the Galerie des Collectionneurs in Paris organises his first personal exhibition with forty-six works, most of them painted in Normandy, some in the Creuze and others in Paris.
In 1906 he travels to Belgium with his friend Braque. Both natives of Normandy, they prefer the sweet and more familiar luminosity of the Nordic ports to the sunny landscapes of the Midi. In the series of canvases that focus on the city of Antwerp, Friesz plays with contrasts, basing himself on a palette of light and harmonious tones in the ranges of pinks, pale blues, bright greens and intense whites. The virgin canvas, visible in some places, reinforces the light effect. This painting, by now, has almost nothing in common with the impressionist one. During their stay, Friesz and Braque always work together, the easels are placed side by side and their paintings are so close, both in subjects and in compositions and colours that unsigned ones present serious problems of distinction. We can note in Friesz a more marked gestures and a greater dynamism that will become the fundamental characteristics of his style.
On his return to Paris, he exhibits these canvases at the Salon d’Automne, in room III, near those by Matisse, Marquet, Derain, de Vlaminck. The critic Louis Vauxcelles, in “Gil Blas”, notes the works of Friesz whose style has significantly changed: “Othon Friesz enlists under the banner of Matisse and Manguin. He broadens his manner and illuminates the canvas with fiery tones, while at the same time retaining his qualities as a builder and draftsman with a nervous stroke. We rejoice in this new adventure of a young artist who is looking for and who will classify himself”.
A new journey marks the second phase of Fauve painting. In June 1907 he reached Braque in L’Estaque, then in August he leaves for La Ciotat. Friesz, like the other Fauves, transposes his vision of nature onto the canvas. The shades of the palette, more vivid than ever, are applied next to each other and surrounded by a coloured stroke (reminiscent of the Nabis painting). The dynamic trait and the taste for a solid composition are undoubtedly the main contributions of Friesz to Fauvism. Unlike Braque, Cubism remains outside of Friesz's interests. Many works from this "Mediterranean" period are purchased by the merchant Kanhweiler and later exhibited at the Salon d’Automne.
Visiting the Salon des Indépendants of 1907, the merchant Eugène Druet notices the paintings of Friesz and, on the advice of Auguste Rodin, offers him a contract. The poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire talks about him in the magazine “Je dis tout”.
The period running from 1908 to 1912 is called by the artist "evolution towards the possession of form"; coinciding with the sensational affirmation of Cézanne's painting (Friesz has already met at the Louvre eight years earlier); in fact, in Friesz there is a return to form and a departure from Fauvism, the technique is profoundly modified due to the emergence of new compositional needs; the palette darkens by favouring ocher, brown, green and austere blue tones. In 1911 he attenuates the colour and the painting became more and more classic. He travels to Germany, Italy, Portugal and on his return Druet organizes a major retrospective for him.
From 1913 Friesz frees himself from the exclusive contract with Druet and exhibited his new canvases at the Galerie Marseille. On the occasion of the Armory Show he sends some canvases to Chicago and New York. The outbreak of the war in 1914 has interrupted all activities. In 1917 the Galerie Druet sells the canvas The acrobats to the Museum of Stuttgart. It is his first painting to enter a public collection. A new journey, taken place in 1920 in Italy, leads him to Piedmont, to Rocca Sparvera and then to Tuscany. In 1922 he intensifies relations with the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune which organises two exhibitions for him; the following year he participates in the Salon des Tuileries and participated in the II Roman Biennale with the work Family of peasants. The year 1924 has been characterised by new sales to Museums: Garden of Toulon, acquired by the Stockholm Museum; the Grenoble Museum buys four canvases and The Skaters is sold to an American museum.
Now Friesz has finally achieved the fame he has once aspired to. In 1926 the Galerie Katia Granoff offers him the purchase of all the production and in the following years he would organize numerous exhibitions of the artist.
In 1924, the works of many contemporary French artists from the important Johs Rump collection have been left in legate at the Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts in Copenhagen. In this collection, Friesz is represented by 13 paintings.
In 1933 an important commission forces him to stop his usual movements within France; in fact, the Gobelins factory ask him to create the cartoons for a tapestry depicting the allegory of Peace which was only completed in 1936.
Despite the heavy commitment, the strong desire for freedom leads him to resume his stays in the most loved places: Normandy and the Atlantic coast where he paints numerous marinas.
A second state commission commits him to the vast project for the International Exhibition of 1937. Friesz shares the vast pictorial decoration of the café in the Théâtre Chaillot with his friend Dufy, depicting the course of the Seine. The work consists of two monumental parts of forty square meters each.
In 1938 Friesz has been invited by the Carnegie Institut of Pittsburgh to be part of the jury of the annual Salon. Taking advantage of his trip to the United States, the Galerie Durand-Ruel in New York organises an exhibition for him.
During the Second World War, Friesz stays in Paris with his family and paints beautifully still lives and flower compositions that can be interpreted as the need to show the presence of nature in his canvases, which has now become inaccessible due to the impossibility of traveling. The Galerie Pétridès in Paris quickly organises two solo shows for him, in 1941 and 1943.
At the end of the war, he returns to Honfleur, a place already visited in 1903. In the following years he will often reach the picturesque town of Normandy, for longer and longer stays. In September 1947 he is located in La Rochelle and when his wife recommends him to return to participate in the Salon d’Automne, Friesz replies "I don't care about the Salon d’Automne and all the Salons". The canvases painted in Normandy have been presented only in March 1948 at the Galerie Pétridès and, during the summer, at the Galerie du National in Lucerne, for his last exhibition.
Musei in cui sono conservate le sue opere:
Albi (Musée Toulouse-Lautrec), Arles, Arras, Grenoble, Le Havre, Lille (Musée de Picardie), Limoges, Lione, Parigi (Musée National d’Art Moderne, Musée de la Guerre, Musée de l’Aviation), Poitiers, Rouen, Saint-Malo, Saint-Sébastien, Toulon, Troyes (Musée d’Art Moderne, coll. P. Lévy) Francia
New York (Museum of Modern Art), Los Angeles, Baltimora, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Stati Uniti
Losanna, Zurigo, Ginevra (Musée d’Art e d’Histoire e Musée du Petit Palais) Svizzera
Mosca, San Pietroburgo, Russia
Oslo, Norvegia
Stoccolma, Svezia
Vienna, Austria
Anversa, Olanda
Belgrado, Serbia
Bergen, Berlino, Eberfeld, Brema, Germania
Bruxelles, Belgio
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Copenaghen, Danimarca
Leeds, Gran Bretagna
Bibliografia:
Seconda Biennale romana, Mostra internazionale di belle arti Roma, Roma, Casa Editrice d’Arte Enzo Pinci, 1923; M. Gauthier, Othon Friesz, Genève, Editions Pierre Cailler, 1957; P. C. Santini, Il paesaggio nella pittura contemporanea, Venezia, Electa Editrice, 1971; F. Lespinasse, La Normandie vue par les peintres, Losanna, Edita, 1988 ; R. Martin, O. Aittouarès, Emile Othon Friesz, L’oeuvre peint, Paris, Editions Aittouarés, 1995; Le fauvisme ou «l’épreuve du feu», Éruption de la modernité en Europe, Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris Musées, 1999; Les années fauves, 1904-1908, Paris, Somogy Editions d’art, 2000
