Aurelie Nemours Biography
Aurélie Nemours (1910 - 2005) was a French painter and poet. For many years, Aurélie Nemours worked alone, venturing further into the strength of lines and intensity of colors. It was only later in life that the importance of his work was recognized. Orphaned at 2 years old, she had a strict upbringing and at the age of 9 she entered a religious institute, the Institut de la Tour. She did not study and complete a high school diploma. She wanted to be a painter and for this she studied at the École du Louvre (1929-1932). He goes from one artist studio to another: from the graphic designer Paul Colin, to André Lhote and Fernand Léger. At the same time, he studied life drawing at the Académie Colarossi. She held her first exhibition at the Salon d'Automne in 1944, followed by the 60th Salon de l'union des femmes peintres et sculpteurs [Union of Women Painters and Sculptors], the Salon de la société des artistes indépendants [Society of Independent Artists ], and the Salon d'art sacré [Religious art]. In 1949, while participating in the Salon des réalités nouvelles [New Realities], his geometric and abstract art was noticed by Auguste Herbin. Michel Seuphor introduces her to Mondrian's work. It was at this time that he stopped using diagonal lines in his works. Gradually, with many abandoned attempts, he began to paint in black and white. Since 1958 he has participated in group exhibitions in Paris and abroad with the Galerie Denise René. At the exhibition Les Maîtres Contemporains du Vitrail [Contemporary Masters in Stained Glass] in Chartres, he created a stained glass project in 1968, the year in which the Museum of Modern Art in Paris acquired his first work. From the 1970s onwards, the number of those collecting his works continued to grow. Since 1989, Nemours' work has finally been recognized and retrospectives of his work have increased. But the artist's eyesight gradually worsened; and thus stopped painting in 1993 and concentrated on his poetic works. In 2004, the Center Pompidou dedicated a major retrospective to her.
