RICHARD MANDIN
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Biography
Born March 19, 1909 in Marseille, Richard Mandin is precocious in art. At seven, he plays the violin and piano for which he composed 30 preludes, between seven and eleven, in a perfect romantic style. It was at this time also that he begins the practice of graphic arts by reproducing the birds of the aviary near his home in the form of drawings and cuttings.
His training in painting beginsat the School of Fine Arts in Marseille where he convinces his father to let him in at 14 years. He wins two first prizes for drawing. He then goes to the Ecole du Louvre where he is graduated three years later. He lives in the capital selling his paintings on the sly. Collectors are starting to take an interest in his work. He frequents famous actors like Claude Dauphin and Fernand Ledoux. But music will be, throughout his life, the inseparable complement of his painting. Will not he declare, at the end of his life, in 2001: "My music fights when I paint against color. When I compose on the piano, it's the color that reacts. I brought them both to heel these two jealous mistresses, I imposed on them a coexistence of every moment. ". He composes and performs at Salle Pleyel in Paris.
" André Maurice will exhibit Mandin's works in his own Parisian gallery in 1946, and from 1948 to 1950 in several galleries in New York (G. Binet Gallery, ...) in the company of these of Picasso, Modigliani, Monet, Braque and Vlaminck "
In 1945, he exhibits at Galerie Sébire with the help of André Maurice, a great discoverer of talents. The latter will exhibit Mandin's works in his own Parisian gallery in 1946, and from 1948 to 1950 in several galleries in New York (G. Binet Gallery, ...) in the company of these of Picasso, Modigliani, Monet, Braque and Vlaminck. In 1946, he exhibits at Jean-Marc Vidal with Pierre Ambrogianai, Antoine Frerrari, Antoine Serra and Auguste Chabaud. The following years, his work is exposed many times at the Jouvène Gallery in Marseille. After regaining his independence, he continued his work in his Marseille studio supported by a clientele of collectors. It is in 1959 that a great retrospective is organized by this gallery. Meanwhile, other exhibitions are organized in France. Richard Mandin died on February 16, 2002. A street in Marseille bears his name.
He organizes his painting around a first touch that set the tone for the rest. Characters, portraits or silhouettes, dogs, horses, birds, flowers, seascapes, landscapes, still lifes, interior scenes arise from a material worked in the manner of Monticelli and orchestrated with ardor around the initial touch. It emanates of this an evocative force, a subtle poetry. The pictorial universe of Mandin is an approach that could be described as difficult because the objects seem drowned in his paintings and only emerge when they are accustomed to them. For the painter, the inanimate objects or the living subjects sometimes have the same tones as those of their environment, and it is only by the oppositions of touches and the connections of matter that they can be brought out. The painter must be this demiurge of space who sublimates the vibrations. He often painted on canvas or cardboard, but also frequently on paper that he mounts on canvas or cardboard. He leaves us a strong and personal expressionist work in which it is good to slip and be surprised. From the famous expressionist trio of Marseilles of this time, composed of Pierre Ambrogiani, Antoine Ferrari and Richard Mandin, the latter will be the most discreet and uncompromising in his pictorial choices. This will hinder his immediate notoriety, but fans of his painting will devote him a recognition and an unwavering love. This is still the case today, which sees the works of Richard Mandin more and more sought after by amateurs.
source : alauzen
Museums
Cantini Museum - Marseille
Palais Longchamp Museum - Marseille
Musée of Salon-de-Provence
