COMBAS

Lot 239
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Estimation :
11200 - 12000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 14 750EUR
COMBAS
VERY BEAUTIFUL PAINTING "PORTRAIT OF BACCHUS, THE KING OF THE WOODEN HEAD" by Robert COMBAS (Born in 1957) Mixed media and collage on canvas signed lower center and titled lower left 65 x 50 cm Robert Combas is a French painter born in 1957 in Lyon. Passionate about music, he participated in the birth of the free figuration movement in the 1980s. Considered as one of the most important French artists of his generation, he has been part of the Artprice ranking of the 500 most popular artists in the world for several years. He now lives and works in the Île de France. As a child, his family moved to Sète. When he left high school, he went to study at the School of Fine Arts in Montpellier. It was at this time that he defined his artistic style in opposition to conceptual art, which was predominant on the art scene at the time. The idea of concentrating on the concept of the work alone did not appeal to the artist, who instead enjoyed drawing shapes and contours. Not belonging to any artistic movement, he advocated creative freedom. He began a series of paintings, "Battles", then treated underdeveloped countries with irony and sarcasm, creating the "Arab Pop Art" movement. His style was very brutal. In 1979, when he had just graduated, Bernard Ceysson invited him to present his paintings in Saint-Etienne as part of the "Après le classicisme" exhibition. At the beginning of the 1980s, a change of artistic paradigm was on the horizon. Robert Combas and Hervé Di Rosa grew up together in Sète. They were separated for a time because of their studies, but once they had graduated they met again in the same Parisian salons. They met Bernard Lamarche-Vadel, art critic, Rémi Blanchard, Jean-Charles Blais, Jean-Michel Alberola, Denis Laget and Catherine Viollet - all five artists - with whom they organised an exhibition in Vadel's apartment in 1981. Free Figuration was born. The name echoes the American artists of the time, and is characterized by an unbridled joviality. For these young artists, there was no question of mourning before a work of art or of entering into romantic contemplation. Their paintings inspire happiness and laughter, joy and good humour. The movement contrasts sharply with the serious and austere art of the 1970s and is, on the contrary, devoid of any negative feelings. Pessimism, nostalgia for the past, fear of the present, anxiety about the future... So many states that are forbidden in free figuration! These artists are part of a new generation at ease with its time, tired of feeling guilty about a past that is gone, and they translate this feeling into painting. In parallel with graffiti in the United States, the development of street art and the advent of rock, a new world appeared, adept at popular culture and freedom. Themes such as sexuality, love, comics, music, are approached with simplicity and naturalness. In 1987, Robert Combas falls in love with Geneviève, whom he makes his muse. In 2010, the artist has the privilege to enter the Lacan collection, thanks to a remarkable series of engravings.
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