Tag: combas

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Robert Combas (continued)

We are relocating!
In the coming weeks we will be occupied with packing and moving our internet store inventory. The entire collection needs to be transferred from Leidschendam to Oegstgeest, and this will take some time.
If all goes according to plan, we will be fully operational again on November 21st, but until then, it may happen that we are unable to immediately assist you with your order. We ask for your understanding, but as soon as possible, your order will be fulfilled with the utmost speed

During the early 1980s, Robert Combas introduced a new form of figurative painting that left a lasting impact on the art scene. His pioneering work in the movement dubbed “Figuration Libre” by Ben Vautier brought together other notable artists such as Rémi Blanchard, François Boisrond, and Hervé Di Rosa.

Inspired by a sense of freedom, this art form boldly depicts various aspects of society such as violence, sexuality, human suffering, and simple pleasures. It also sheds light on societal flaws and narrow-mindedness, as well as moments of greatness.

Influenced by rock culture, popular imagery, childhood literature, school textbooks, and all that defines popular culture accessible to the masses, my approach sometimes involves using abstract techniques, reminiscent of abstract expressionism. However, the humorous and down-to-earth side of me is reflected in the figurative aspect of my work. It was initially a response to the intellectual paintings of the mid-seventies. Growing up in a working-class background and navigating through two different worlds, my paintings hold a deeper meaning. They exude a sense of boundless energy and offer a glimpse into my unrestricted creativity. Unlike cartoons, where one must adhere to set characters, my paintings grant me complete freedom – even with the format.

www.ftn-books.com has a special selection of books on Combas available.

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Rémy Blanchard (1958-1993)

Raised in Nantes alongside his ten siblings, the artist Rémi Blanchard embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Initially pursuing studies in mechanical engineering, he later enrolls at the School of Fine Arts in Quimper during the late seventies. By the early eighties, he has established himself in Paris. A recent graduate of the art academy, the young Blanchard joins a group of artists who would eventually become known as the ‘Figuration Libre’ movement. His highly personal painting style greatly contributes to this new art movement. Drawing inspiration from mythology, history, the universe of stories, and his own childhood, Blanchard creates vibrant and powerful works of art. His recognizable figures and symbols appear consistently in all of his works. Deer, feline creatures, birds, humans in animal form, circus figures, and caravans are frequent motifs. Primordial elements such as the sun and fire, as well as Eastern symbols, also make regular appearances. As his career progresses, the human figure takes on a more prominent role in Blanchard’s art. His paintings often feature characters reading, sleeping, or reclining, clearly seeking a sense of tranquility. Blanchard employs a simple palette of lively and bright colors. His early works are characterized by expressive, loose brushstrokes. Later on, his style becomes smoother and more stylized, with defined color blocks and clear contours. Blanchard’s intimate images blur the lines between dream and reality, nostalgia and magic, poetry and a certain cruelty. His body of work shows influences from masters such as Vincent van Gogh, Fernand Léger, Henri Mattise and Gaston Chaissac. Blanchard exhibits his work in galleries all over Europe. From 1981 onwards, he also spends time and showcases his art in America and Japan. In the early nineties, a fire destroys his storage space and workshop in Paris, resulting in the destruction of many of his works. The artist passes away at a young age in Paris in 1995.

www.ftn-books.com has several titles on Blanchard available.

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Robert Combas (1957) (continued)

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I know of many artist who at one time in their lives were invited to decorate a church or execute stained windows. In the Netherlands it is Marc Mulders who is the best example. Acroos the border many other names like Matisse, Rothko, Foujita and Chagall and recently i discovered that Robert Combas made his own contribution to this kind of art. The exhibition was held at the Vieille Église Saint-Vincet in Merigmac / France.

Impressive paintings of arguably the best of all Figuration artists. Catalogue is available at www.ftn-books.com.

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The French artist Robert Combas has become known as one of the protagonists of “Figuration Libre”, the French form of new figuration in the 1980s. Robert Combas was born at Lyon in 1957, he grew up in Sète, where he also began to study at the “École des Beaux-Arts” in 1974. Between 1975 and 1980 he completed his studies at the DNSAP in Montpellier. In those years the Punkrock movement had decisive influence on Robert Combas. In 1978 he even founded a band, together with Hervé di Rosa and Richard di Rosa. In 1979 Robert Combas, Hervé di Rosa and Ketty Brindel published the art magazine “Bato”. From those days on, Robert Combas was able to establish himself as painter and graphic artist in the style of “Figuration Libre”. Along with Rémi Blanchard, François Boisrond and Hervé di Rosa, Robert Combas was a founding father of the artist group of the same name. Comics and graffiti inspired his works, Pop Art and Arabian art can be named as additional sources of influences. Strong and striking colors with black contour lines increase the effect of his images. As of the late 1980s an increasingly mystical tendency can be observed, Robert Combas’ works are darker and gloomier. In the 1990s Combas expanded his field of artistic activity: He writes poetry and works photographs over with felt tip pen, assemblages are also part of his oeuvre. After the turn of the millennium music became a great source of inspiration for Robert Combas once again, and he made large paintings in cooperation with rock bands. “Ma peinture c’est du rock”, my painting is rock music, said the artist about his work.

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A very special catalogue on Figuration Libre

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The year 1982, the exhibition …l’Air du Temps….location Galerie d’Art Contemporain Nice….the artists… Alberola, Blanchard, Blais, Boisrond, Castellas, Combas, Denis, di-Rosa, En avant comme avant, Favier, Gainon, Giard, Laget, Lanneau and Rousse.

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All artists were member of the FIGURATION LIBRE group and have gained world fame in the decades after this exhibition. What makes this catalogue special is that it is the only copy currently available on the market and from an art historical point of view. It presents these artists for the first time together in one of the major museums for modern art. Beside that a text is written by Ben Vautier ( Fluxus) who was and is an admirer of the Figuration Libre. This i the only copy i have available and it is very special , since the condition is excellent and it is dedicated to Riekje Swart who was the first to present these Figuration Libre artists in the Netherlands.

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Robert Combas new additions

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The final blog on the “Figuration Libre” presents two important new additions to my inventory. Both are related to each other. The first is the Guy Pieters catalogue from 2003 in which he presented the latest paintings from 2002 and 2003 and the second is from 2005 from the Museum Jan van der Togt. The museum made a choice from these recent paintings and added, many paintings from the decades before to this great retrospective.

Both are now available at www.ftn-books.com and belong to the best publications on Robert Combas

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Hervé Di Rosa (1959)

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Di Rosa is the artist from the LIBERATION LIBRE group who arguably has been influenced the most by the original comic art from the previous French decades in comics. He even published some comics on his own. A bit like Raymond Pettibon also publishes his own comics. In an interview he tells the following to the interviewer:

“The great names in comics have affected me every bit as much as the great painters I love.” Growing up in the 1960s, relatively isolated in Sète on the French Mediterranean coast, Hervé Di Rosa got his culture fix from reproductions of fine art in books and from comics. “I saw no difference between them in scale or validity.” Starting to exhibit his art in 1980, Di Rosa with his brother Richard and Robert Combas drew on their passions for both art and pop culture to pioneer the radical French ‘Figuration Libre’ movement in the 1980s. Unlike most earlier Pop artists, who were not necessarily raised on comics, Di Rosa explains, “I don’t cite comics in a superficial way, I incorporate their techniques into my work.”

Personally i think the works by Di Rosa are too much like comics. I prefer the Combas works with the heavy outlines around his subjects , making his works stand out and recognized instantly. Still the Groninger Museum liked Di Rosa his works so much that they devoted a nice exhibition on Di Roda and published ” LES AVENTURES DE HERVE ET RICHARD ” in 1986. This and other Di Rosa publications are available at www.ftn-books.com

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Figuration Libre

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This week several blogs on “Figuration Libre” . It is the french counterpart of the mouvement which was led by haring, Scharf and Basquiat in the US, b ut with a difference, because , in my opinion, The Europeans? French were influenced by comis art from the Sixties and Seventies. The US artist did not have this legacy but invented a kind of street art on their own. Artistically more important but in many cases less pleasing to the eye.

Figuration Libre (“Free Figuration”) is a French art movement which began in the 1980s. It is the French equivalent of Bad Painting and Neo-expressionism in America and Europe, Junge Wilde in Germany and Transvanguardia in Italy. Arists in the movement typically incorporate elements of comic book art and graffiti into their work. They use bright colors and exaggerated, caricature-like figures.

The group was formed in 1981 by Robert Combas, Remi Blanchard, François Boisrond and Hervé Di Rosa. The term ‘Figuration Libre’ was coined by Fluxus artist Ben Vautier. Other figures include Richard Di Rosa and Louis Jammes. Between 1982 and 1985, these artists exhibited alongside their American counterparts Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Kenny Scharf in New York City, London, Pittsburgh and Paris.

Figuration Libre (Free Figuration) can be translated as “Free Style”.

Of course there is a reason to devote these blogs to Figuration Libre. I have acquired a small collection of important books by these artists which is now for sale at www.ftn-books.com

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Robert Combas (1957)

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For me Robert Combas is a fun artist. Painting large canvasses with “comic” like figures , thick outlines resulting in a complete style of his own . It is worth visiting his personal site at www.combas.com and what i learned from it, is that Combas makes music too. I did not know this before . He is in  a group called LES SANS PATTES and i checked it out at Spotify. A little ambient, a little chansons and some poetry makes this highly original too. This fascinating and versatile artist was a little forgotten outside France, until he had a greatest hits exhibition in the MAC in Lyon in 2012. His paintings can be grouped according to themes, but they all have in common their highly original and recognizable Combas style. If you do not have anything tot do this weekend, visit his personal site and listen to Les Sans Pattes , view them on Youtube and order some great Robert Comas books at www.ftn-books.com

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