“Portrait 2”

Pierre Marie Brisson (b. 1955) "Portrait 2”. Large mixed media painting on canvas. Purchased from Bowles/Sorokko Galleries, New York in 1992. Brisson's work is displayed in the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale Jewish Museum, New York George Page Museum, Los Angeles Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris Musee de la Poste, Paris Pushkin Museum, Moscow Musee Faure, haute couture Paris Groupe Cartier, and the Argentina Musee de L'Hospice Saint-Roch, among many others. Sight Size: 45.75 by 35 inches Overall Size: 51 by 40.5 inches. Condition is very good. Framed with a custom marbleized floating frame in fine condition.

Pierre Marie was born in Orléans, France and knew by the age of 14 that he was an artist. Although he never had formal art school training, he did have a teacher who encouraged him to follow his dreams. As a young man, he was inspired by, and worked with, several artists including Bernard Saby, Bram Van Velde and James Coignard, essentially learning his craft as an apprentice.

As a painter, Brisson integrates French decorative aestheticism – evident from Manet to Matisse – into modernist Primitivism. Using a collage technique, Brisson combines various elements in his compositions, imitating the rough surface of an ancient wall, the craquelure of old paint, the decorative pattern of wallpaper and woven fabric. Brisson’s art is avant-garde and ingenious, yet timeworn and antique. It is skillfully crafted with the best materials, yet part of its success rests with the fact that his works are fashioned from the discarded fragments of our disposable civilization, rescued and revitalized by the hand of an artist.

He uses several subjects and motifs repeatedly. Art historian Jennifer Katanic observed: “His work unravels the mystery of art through a careful reflection on familiar motifs. Matisse is recognized through his palm fronds and dancers, Degas by his ballerinas, the masters of Ancient Greece in a trio of athletes and the feminine graces. Each motif is transformed through process and materiality into a living picture. Jasper Johns accomplished something similar in his use of the American flag; immediate recognition of something known freed the viewer to experience the making of art more directly. And that in turn, allowed the viewer to figure out more readily what exactly the artist was accomplishing through his choices.”

Brisson has an extensive exhibition history, primarily in Europe and his work can be found in the permanent collections of institutions throughout the world. He has a studio in Paris as well as one in the ancient city of Aigues Morte in the south of France. He spends most of his time painting in the south and can often be found working on his boat as it drifts down the Rhône River in the warm summer months.