Page 43 - Studio International - December 1965

De Boulogne's last words to me were: 'I must confess including all the paintings destined for his one-man
that having attempted to express the Double Image in show the following month. and he was obliged to find
Three Dimensions, I trust my efforts will succeed'. himself a new base for his work. Eventually, he dis­
The top-most gallery on the Left Bank which covered a derelict studio in Paris, which had once
regularly holds exhibitions of original works by painters belonged to the painter Kisling, and an even more
and sculptors is the Galerie lolas, on the Boulevard St. derelict 'Mas· in Provence, overlooking the river
Germain-des-Pres. Durance. He has since reconstructed both properties
Here there is at present on show another astonishing with his own hands, aided by his also extremely talented
exhibition of the latest constructions of Niki de St.­ wife, Betty, and has been enabled by his success in
Phalle. The collection is entitled 'Les Nanas' (which in painting to give up his job, and since 1959, devote him­
French can be translated as 'Yum-Yum'), and Niki de self entirely to art. When I called on him at his Paris
St.-Phalle has employed the old French term of studio, he was preparing several canvases for his last
expression, meaning 'the work a mother has to do to exhibition, which was held during November at the
hold together the bits and pieces of clothing for her Woodstock Gallery in London, and I was invited to look
family' in constructing these enormous and rather at some of his most recent works.
obscene female figures, which reflect none of her own Of particular interest to me was his self-portrait (1 965),
feminine attractiveness. a striking study of 'any man contemplating his face in the
She, with an undoubtedly cynical and erotic sense of mirror first thing in the morning and perhaps not feeling
humour, has formed her multichromatic 'sculptures' (if too pleased with the reflection he sees gazing back at
one can use that term here) from a base of papier­ him', as he puts it.
mache, weighted inside, and covered in pieces of highly Another of his compositions. entitled Banks of the
coloured materials of all kinds which are glued to these Seine, and painted in subtle tones of green and yellow
strange creatures with some kind of plastic fixative. with complementary tones of violet-grey, illustrates his
'The Nanas· are arranged in various grotesque poses, marvellous technique of blending colours to give greater
and it is most amusing to observe the reactions of the definition to his subject.
passers-by, who, on stopping to gaze at these gigantic When I asked him how he had evolved this technique,
colourful constructions. register every kind of facial he told me that he was groping towards the theory
expression, ranging from downright stupefaction to which has grown out of the continual struggle to
hilarious amusement! analyse and understand colour during the years.
They may well be asking themselves if this is the true C3reen considers that the Impressionists were the real
expression of contemporary sculpture, then what comes revolutionaries. They used their analytical eye to find out
next! However, the young artist herself, one feels, has what each colour they saw corresponded to at any given
sufficient sense of humour to appreciate this viewpoint. instant of the day in any given situation of light. In doing
Certainly she possesses a very great talent, even if she so, they freed colour from its 'local' bondage. But before
tends to exploit it in this rather ostentatious way. them Turner had already shown the way to a different
Amongst those British painters who live and work in and yet more profound use of colour. His atmospheric
Paris and who have found success after many years of sketches of Venice are a perfect example. Cezanne too­
hard work is Alfred Rozelaar Green. the real father of 20th century painting-although con­
Born in 1917, of mixed Anglo-Dutch parentage, he cerned primarily in a new way of describing objects, also
studied physics, mathematics and engineering at Cam­ found this spatial colour relationship in his water­
bridge, but found his love of painting too strong to be colour sketches of the Aix countryside.
denied its natural outlet, and he left Cambridge in 1937 'This way of using colour', Green said to me, 'is the
for the Central School of Art in London. After spending a result of a simple physiological fact. Two colours of
year there, he went to Paris to study at the Academie great similarity (a minute difference of intensity is
Julien, and later continued his studies with Gromaire enough). placed side by side on the canvas, are trans­
(mainly drawing and sculpture) for the next few years. lated by the eye into a spatial relationship'.
He returned in 1945 to London, to start the Anglo­ This fact can be used to build up a quite different
French Art Centre in St. John's Wood, where painters, perspective to the classical one. Each object put on to
sculptors and tapestry designers were invited from the canvas-including the surrounding atmosphere­
France to exhibit their work. For the students at the can be given its place in space. Colour is then freed com­
Centre, this meant an opportunity to have first-hand pletely from its use as a way of adding merely to a des­
contact with new and stimulating ideas, and they could cription of something seen. It becomes the thing seen.
also meet and discuss their own work with such people 'I would add that I do not paint according to this theory
as Lurc;:at Clave, Dominguez, Saint-Saens. Germaine worked out in advance·. Green went on. 'It seems to me
Richier. Andre Lhote. Couturier. etc. and the many that the innumerable theories of painting-worked out
painters and sculptors who came to participate in the from an intellectual analysis of the work of preceding
Centre life, among them Kokoschka, Jankel Adler, artists-is the greatest danger that exists today·.
Pasmore, Trevelyan, Moore, etc. Mathieu, whose retrospective is now on show at the
Unfortunately, the Centre had to close down in 1950, Galerie Charpentier, substitutes for the annual School of
due to lack of financial support, and Green took his Paris exhibitions which, till now, have been held there.
sailing-barge to Paris and anchored it off the Ouai In the preface to the catalogue of this somewhat start­
d'Orsay. Although he was obliged to do a job. working ling exhibition of Mathieu·s work, Monsieur Nacenta
for a well-known firm of English Artists' Colours, he makes, in a certain sense, an apology for not having
managed to go on painting in whatever time he could repeated his annual School of Paris show.
find tr devote himself to this, his primary interest in life. This display of multiple works by Mathieu is almost as
The Fates had not quite finished dealing him dis­ bewildering as the artist himself. A few years ago. I
couraging blows, however, as in September 1954, his visited him in his spacious house in Passy. At that time,
barge sank in the North Sea, complete with contents. Mathieu was very much 'in the news·, his paintings
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