Jean Commère (1920-1986) Madonna, 1974

Jean Commère (1920-1986) Madonna, 1974 Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. 116 x 81 cm. Born in 1920 in Paris, Jean Commère entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1938. His career as a painter began in 1945, propelled in 1952 by winning the Othon-Friesz Grand Prize. In 1950, he painted men, women, children, landscapes, still lifes... At a time when abstraction was establishing itself as a major trend, and when new, more conceptual paths were already being defined, Jean Commère was convinced that figurative art remained relevant. He joined the painters of the Jeune Peinture group and then those of the Salon des Peintres Témoins de leur Temps (Painters Witnessing Their Time), who affirmed their realist vocation as early as 1947. An exceptional draftsman and watercolorist, Jean Commère was also an accomplished painter. His favorite themes are all represented in the centenary exhibition: landscapes, intimate figures, genre scenes, bouquets of flowers… The work is vibrant and captivating. The retrospective exhibition offers a fresh perspective that brings this painter's work into the present day, giving it a new, modern, powerful, and personal interpretation.