Jean Fautrier Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Jean Fourier was born in Paris in 1898.
At the age of ten he moved to London with his mother.
He studied at the Royal College of Art and then at the Slade School of Art. During a visit to the Tate, he discovered Turner's paintings, which greatly influenced him.
He exhibited and sold his first works at an early age.
Although he was 16 years old, he was drafted into the war and went to the front with the French army.
In 1921 Fortriere left the army due to health problems and resumed painting.
In 1922 he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne. Read the full biography

Jean Fourier was born in Paris in 1898.
At the age of ten he moved to London with his mother.
He studied at the Royal College of Art and then at the Slade School of Art. During a visit to the Tate, he discovered Turner's paintings, which greatly influenced him.
He exhibited and sold his first works at an early age.
Although he was 16 years old, he was drafted into the war and went to the front with the French army.
In 1921 Fortriere left the army due to health problems and resumed painting.
In 1922 he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne. 1923 at the Fabre Gallery.
His style is changing. The seeds of his future turned to informal painting or "Art Hauteur", according to the term coined by Michel Tapié, as evident.
Art dealers became interested in Fautrier's work. Therefore, he signed his first contract with Paul Guillaume. Thanks to him, in 1927 he held a personal exhibition at the Bernheim Gallery.
In the 1930s, the artist left Paris due to financial problems. He moved to Haute-Savoie, where he worked as a ski instructor and hotel manager.
The outbreak of the Second World War brought Forelier back to Paris.
He participated in the resistance to the Germans. In 1943 he was briefly arrested.
After this episode he moved to the province, to Chatenay. Here it depicts one of the most famous cycles, the Otâges (Hostages). These works were so intense that he exhibited in Drouin in 1945.
This is not a success. His work is very different from what has been seen before. Too vulgar and dramatic. They remember painful times that we would rather forget.
Jean Fautrier left the artistic environment disappointed. He then worked on some book illustrations for Gallimard, as well as on the graphic work Multipli Originaux.
This is also travel time. Visit Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Scotland, USA, Spain and Portugal.
In 1955 he was preparing for a new exhibition at the Galerie Rive Droite in Paris. Les Objects is on display there. The results are better than ten years ago.
Thanks to informal dissemination, Fautrier's work has achieved great recognition. The exhibitions multiply, as do the admirers and buyers. In 1957 he exhibited the Tête de Partisan on the Right Bank, which was produced at events in Hungary and Nus. It was a big year for Fautrier, who also presented his work at the Sidney Janis in New York.
In 1959 he participated in Documenta.
In 1960, Jean Fortrier's career was awarded first prize (together with Hartung) at the Venice Biennale. Giulio Carlo Argan is no stranger to his fascination with the artist's work. In addition to Argan, in Italy, Fautrier can count on a large group of admirers: Palma Bucarelli, Francesco Arcangeli, Giuseppe Ungaretti, with whom he is a good friend and with whom he visited Japan and the Middle East.
But Fautrier attributes the Italian success to the interest of two great gallery owners: Guido Le Noci in Milan and Bruno Sargentini in Rome.
In 1961 he won the International Grand Prix at the Tokyo Biennial.
In 1963 he participated in two important exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and at the Kunsthalle in Zurich. 1964 was a major retrospective at the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris, donated by the artist.
Jean Fautrier died in Chatenay-Malabry in 1964.