Montmartre In The 1950s - Henri-andré Martin (1918–2004)

Oil on canvas by Henri-André Martin depicting the streets of Paris in the Montmartre neighborhood in the 1950s. Dimensions: 46 x 65 cm.

Biography:
Henri André Martin was born in Lyon in January 1918 into a family of doctors. From a very young age, his passion was painting, but, yielding to family influence, he chose medicine, while still managing to balance his time between these two arts.
... Throughout his career, he successfully combined medicine and painting, going on to play a leading role in the art world, as evidenced by a book on Van Gogh’s illness, published in 1994. His body of work is extensive, encompassing paintings, silkscreen prints, and lithographs. He was awarded the Maurice Utrillo Prize in 1964 and received the Medal of Honor from the Lyon Society of Fine Arts. He participated in numerous exhibitions in galleries in France and abroad (New York, Frankfurt, Geneva, etc.), as well as in the production of highly regarded books, such as the *Bestiary of Insects* and *Lyon by René Deroudille and Jean Albert Carlotti*. He was a corresponding member of the Institut de France. He will be remembered by all as a brilliant surgeon and an esteemed master who wielded both scalpel and paintbrush with equal elegance. Contemplative yet active, he sought to pursue painting, which was his true calling. This vocation had been encouraged by Joseph Lamberton, a painter and sculptor from Saint-Étienne, and by Henry Grosjean, who agreed to come and give painting lessons to my father during the summer at the family estate in Jasseron, in the Bresse region. Henri André Martin’s friends were mostly artists. Joseph Lamberton, Henry Grosjean, and Pierre Eugène Montézin, Jean Carlotti, Jean Fusaro, André Cottavoz, and Jacques Truphémus—among the leading figures of the Lyon School—regularly exhibited at the Malaval Gallery, which belonged to my father and was directed by his wife, Anne-Marie. Let us mention Mario Prassinos and Roland Oudot, who painted in Eygalières, as well as Henri de Waroquier, Camille Hilaire, Louis Pons, and Michel Ciry. The latter two, very close friends with very different personalities, took turns spending long stays at our home in Eygalières. Joseph Alessandri, our neighbor, and Jean Cardot, permanent secretary of the Institut de France, were our dearest friends, though many others deserve mention as well. His meeting with, and subsequent friendship with, Jean Souverbie are a good illustration of my father’s personality.

Titles and Awards
Numerous awards, including the Maurice Utrillo Prize in 1964. Exempt from competition, then awarded the Medal of Honor by the Lyon Society of Fine Arts. Member of the Salon du Sud-Est until his death in 2004. Salon of Drawing and Watercolor Painting, Paris. Member of the Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts, Paris. Member of the Salon d’Automne, Paris; correspondent of the Institut de France.

Exhibitions:
1962: Galerie Chardin (Paris); 1965:
(Geneva); 1965: Château de la Jansonne
1971–2000: Galerie Malaval (Lyon); 1973: Château de la Jansonne (Cavaillon); 1978: Chapel of the Grand Couvent (Cavaillon); 1979: Lacoux Contemporary Art Center; 1981: Galerie Visconti (Paris); 1987: Rillieux Contemporary Art Fair (Rhône); 1988: Maison de Lyon (Lyon); 1992: Artrium (Maurice Ravel Auditorium), Lyon; Galerie Braquahage, Honfleur; 1996: Léa and Napoléon Bullukian Foundation (Lyon); 2008: Léa and Napoléon Bullukian Foundation (Lyon).
Paintings exhibited in numerous galleries
in New York, Dallas, Caracas, and Geneva.
Silkscreen prints, lithographs, and “Grands livres”
Numerous silkscreen prints and lithographs (Mourlot studio, then Dejobert in Paris, the Badier studio in Lyon, and the André Dupertuis studio in Eygalières); a collection of six plates titled *Les troncs* and, above all, *L’olivier*, a work created in the purest tradition of the *Grands livres*; editions of rare and collectible books: *Le bestiaire d’insectes* by Jean Vasca and Joseph Alessandri, *Le Lyon* by René Déroudille and Jean Carlotti, *La création du Monde* by Jean Piaubert.
Public collections: City of Lyon. Musée de Rodez. National Contemporary Art Collection…