Jean René Bazaine facts for kids
.png)
Jean René Bazaine (born December 21, 1904 – died March 4, 2001) was a famous French painter. He also designed beautiful stained glass windows and wrote books. He was related to a well-known English portrait painter named Sir George Hayter.
Becoming an Artist
Jean Bazaine was born in Paris, France. He first studied sculpture at the Académie Julian and with Paul Landowski. He also spent some time at the École des Beaux-Arts. At the same time, he loved learning about philosophy and literature. He studied these subjects at the Sorbonne in Paris from 1921 to 1925.
His studies helped him write an important book called Notes sur la peinture d'aujourd'hui (1948). This book talked about how art could be both "abstract" (not showing real things) and "figurative" (showing real things). In 1952, he was even asked to be a judge for a big art show in Pittsburgh, USA, because of his ideas.
Even though he started with sculpture, Bazaine became good friends with famous sculptors like Alexander Calder and Giacometti.
Bazaine's Paintings
Bazaine became a very important painter in the School of Paris, a group of modern artists. Sadly, a fire in his studio in 1945 destroyed almost all his early paintings. This meant we lost many of his interesting watercolor works from the 1930s.
His art was first shown with other artists in Paris in 1930. At his first solo show in 1932, the famous painter Pierre Bonnard liked his work. Bonnard saw that Bazaine was developing a new way of using color, moving from Post-Impressionism towards Abstract Impressionism. In 1937, he became good friends with Jacques Villon.
During World War II, in 1941, Bazaine helped organize an art show called Vingt Jeunes Peintres de Tradition Française (Twenty Young Painters of French Tradition). This was important because some art was being called "Degenerate Art" at the time. In 1942, he started focusing more on abstract art, though he never called himself just an "abstract painter."
In 1949 and 1950, Bazaine had his first big solo show at the Galerie Maeght, which became his main art dealer. After that, he had many successful exhibitions in cities like Bern, Hanover, Zürich, and Oslo. In 1990, a huge exhibition of his work was held at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Stained Glass and Mosaics
Bazaine also worked a lot with stained glass and mosaics. These projects connected him with other great artists.
In 1937, he started working with stained glass. He met Georges Rouault and Georges Braque, who were also designing church windows. In 1943, Bazaine made three windows for the church of Nôtre Dame de Toute Grace at Assy. These windows showed saints related to music. His work was displayed alongside art by famous artists like Georges Rouault (stained glass), Henri Matisse (mural), Fernand Léger (mosaic), Pierre Bonnard (painting), and Marc Chagall (ceramics).
A priest named Father Couturier encouraged many modern artists to create religious art. He invited Bazaine to work on the Church of the Sacred Heart at Audincourt in 1951. For this church, Fernand Léger designed the stained glass, and Bazaine created a large mosaic for the outside wall. Later, in 1954, Bazaine also made a glazed wall for the church's baptistery.
The Church of Sacré-Cœur d'Audincourt is considered a very important example of modern "sacred art." Bazaine remembered working with Léger fondly. Léger once joked about Bazaine's mosaic, saying, "So, my old friend, do you always work in melodies?"
Bazaine went on to create many more mosaics, including works for UNESCO in Paris (1960) and for the Métro Cluny-La Sorbonne station in Paris (1985-1987).
He loved the sea, especially after visiting Brittany. Many of his best stained glass windows are in the Finistère region of Brittany, including windows for Penguilly Castle (1973), Locronan (1977), and Penmarc'h (1979–1981).
One of his most famous stained glass works is a set of seven windows in the old church of Saint-Séverin in Paris (1964–1969). These windows were inspired by the sacraments of the Catholic church.
Bazaine also designed tapestries for the Palais de Justice in Lille (1969) and the Ecole Navale (1973). He helped start an organization called the "Association for the Defense of France's Stained Glass" with Alfred Manessier. From 1984 to 1988, Bazaine led the project to create new windows for the cathedral of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, bringing together many talented painters and glaziers.
In 1996, a large mosaic (15 meters by 12 meters) was made for a new church in Concarneau. In 1997, a book about his career was published, and his huge mosaic called L'Envol de la Liberté (The Flight of Liberty) was finished on the Liberty Wall at Saint-Dié-des-Vosges.
Friendships with Poets
Throughout his life, Bazaine stayed in touch with many poets. He mentioned about twenty of them in his 1997 book, including Paul Éluard.
Three poets were especially close friends: André Frénaud, Jean Tardieu, and his own son, Jean-Baptiste de Seynes. Bazaine even illustrated a book about André Frénaud.
Jean Bazaine passed away at the age of 96 in Clamart. He was working on a series of collages right up until the end.
