Modern Work Dated 2005 - Michel Bertrand (1935-2009)

Michel Bertrand was born in Montpellier in 1935 and died in Perpignan in 2009. A painter and sculptor, he studied at the Beaux-Arts in Montpellier and Paris from 1954 to 1960. He then joined Raymond Legueult's class. He painted the Picador, as the culmination of his final project at the Beaux-Arts, dedicated to "The Bull in the Languedoc Festivals" a series of commented illustrations, diploma passed on December 1, 1958, approved on January 25, 1959. He was then a finalist (logist) for the Prix de Rome which crowned his studies at the Beaux-Arts in Paris. But aware of being "from a School of Paris style", he oriented his work towards graffiti from 1962, including "crust and sand" (for example "untitled", signed and dated in 1970). He is part of major contemporary art movements, such as Support/Surface and Fluxus. He becomes very close to Claude Viallat and Ben. He continues to explore graffiti, but also tars and reliquaries. He develops a vast body of work around papier-mâché. He, in turn, began teaching at the Perpignan School of Fine Arts in 1968. His work is recognized by the greatest institutions: in 1981, the Musée National d'Art Moderne Centre Georges Pompidou acquired 6 of his works. Others are held at the Musée d'art moderne de Saint-Étienne, the Musée Paul Valéry de Sète, and the Musée d'art moderne de Céret.