Jean Bertholle

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Galerie Roque, Paris.

Jean Bertholle, French painter and printmaker, is a major representative of the Nouvelle École de Paris. His prolific work is characterized by a constantly evolving style.

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Bertholle began painting at the age of 15, but destroyed all his canvases until 1933, considering them too “imitative” and “academic”. In Paris, he was fascinated by emerging artistic movements, especially by their representation of madness in daily life. It's getting closer to Roger Bissière, Alfred Manessier and Jean Le Moal. From 1965 to 1980, he taught at the Beaux-Arts in Paris and then founded his own painting academy in 1983 in Saint-Roch.

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Although he initially devoted himself to figurative painting, the influence of surrealism and esotericism allowed him to establish unusual relationships in the field of natural appearances. The painter, who returned to meticulous figuration, ended up feeling the “pressing need” to turn to non-figuration. At the end of the 1960s, he finally devoted himself to a figuration centered on the horse, the dramas of contemporary history and the major biblical themes.

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At the same time, Bertholle created numerous stained glass windows, tapestries, tapestries, mosaics, ceramics, decorations, illustrations and theater costumes. In 2011, the Museum of Sacred Art of Dijon dedicated the exceptional exhibition to him Matter and spirit.