Alexandre Pineau’s work is on the dividing line between expressionism and populism, as they were perceived in the thirties. Under the guise of tragic realism, he takes us beyond the work of art, behind the painting, “offstage”, and shows us the actual truth. A gloomy reality marked by tenderness and brutality (even indifference), humour and pain, exuberance and melancholy; a host of contradictory emotions that are the everyday lot of humble people, those who have been spoiled by life.
The artist has kept his fresh naïve perspective, but obviously masters his craft. He frequently pictures carnivals, small circuses. His characters’ attitudes are always natural, but so well portrayed that they seem almost caricatured. And he brings such humour to his scenes, such insight into the wonders and miseries that make up a clown’s life. Above all, his painting is “a way to tell stories”, an “art that saves him from writing”. The stories Pineau tells through his paintings are as fascinating as the paintings themselves.
He talks about artists in travelling circuses, bohemians, band musicians, and he does it with enough humility that we feel no need to go beyond the story, with enough brotherly sympathy for his characters that we are simply touched by them, by their gestures, their faces, their humble background and the simple objects that fill their existence.
He paints the people from the suburbs, the world of travelling entertainers, those who go God knows where, but eventually end up somewhere, often in dismal places, but still spread joy and laughter among their brothers, the modest people of “fortif”, around Paris, where they pitch their tent. This could all seem pitiful, down-and-out or even sordid. But it is not. The lovers walking by, the dog following them, wagging his tail, the man pushing his cart under the rain, the clown who can’t help but be sad, are all pictured with utmost simplicity. They have a definite elegance in their modesty. He is also fond of races, motorcycle races, the Strasbourg-Paris race walk, horse racing. Pineau’s art discloses a fragment of this unusual Paris that we know only through books or movies.
His work is particularly moving, but its charm does not stem simply from its harrowing poetry. Alexandre Pineau is a master at blending delicate hues with a few bright touches, over unlimited shades of grey. Pineau’s colours are clear; his compositions are bright and cheerful despite the misery or the poverty of his characters and his decors. Often highlighted by almost acid colours under dark cloud-laden skies – his greys are refined and their shades are subtle – all his paintings are tinged with poetry and a certain humour.
Alexandre Pineau could be called populist from the very onset of this new thought movement, summarized by painter Truchet in the foreword of the first Salon Populiste in 1932: “The new trend is to portray what is human, living, suffering”. It is therefore easy to understand that Alexandre Pineau, moved by his instinctive generosity, simply had to take part in this new movement.
23 April 2009
November 16, 2008
Alexandre Pineau’s work is permeated by his dreams of fatherhood, his desire to start a family and have children. According to his biography, he lost his first wife and a young child. He remarried, but did not have other children. Throughout his work, he regularly pictures a baby carriage, rolling by discreetly, almost unnoticed. You can see a carriage in nearly one out of five paintings, sometimes as a mere outline, but often escorted by one or two children, a few steps away.
Children are often pictured in pairs, dressed in blue, red or pink, representing a little boy and a little girl, the epitome of the perfect family. They witness life going by before their eyes: in a café, at the train station, on the road and in the village square, especially on the day the circus sets up its tent. See how they observe the juggler, the musician or the amusement ride. This is how he saw life as a 7-year old, when he won the City of Paris competition of drawings for the Universal Exhibition, and this is the outlook he wishes to maintain on life.
The circus is also a big family and the place where children can smile, laugh and scream in a joyful environment. Children add colour to the painting, they symbolize discovering the world. They bring a different perspective, the detachment required to overcome the obstacles that line any individual or collective journey.
Alexandre Pineau created a work of art, but he also gave birth to a family and portrayed its daily life in Paris, in the countryside or at home, just as Balzac did in his novels.
Christophe Pavie, PUF writer
16 November 2008
Sorry, but this post is not available in English
29 October 2008
September 25, 2006
Fondation TAYLOR
1 rue la Bruyère, 75009 Paris
September 7-30
4th floor studio
From 1 to 7 p.m. daily, except Sundays and Mondays
Happy crowds on vacation, joyful moments with the family, the music of a band, freedom and leisure… Alexandre Pineau was a master at bringing these moments to life on canvas, with an inspired freshness. His work is full of humanity and reveals his consideration for others; it is a reminder of times gone by where life, although difficult, did not exclude simple celebrations.
Alexandre Pineau was also curious about lively streets and suburbs; he brought clowns to life, pictured caravans on chaotic roads. He portrayed a whole populist universe. His compositions, very far from stereotypes, are touching by their understated tenderness. This generous artist devoted part of his time to others: he spent 40 years working for Fondation Taylor, where he was corporate secretary from 1950 to 1970. Each of his paintings reads like a poem, without any redundant details, color merely hinting at a shape. Sometimes, an intended blunder connects him with art naïf. You can feel his pleasure of working with a rich matter, fluctuating between subtle greys and dark ochres to suggest winter days and bright shades of red, luminous yellows and radiant blues for summer months. His paintings are the result of his maturity and a proof of his indisputable talent. They truly are a breath of fresh air.
Nicole Lamothe
Univers des Arts
25 September 2006
September 24, 2006
To me, Alexandre Pineau’s paintings are candid, yet intelligent and allow me to feel like a contemporary of a bygone age.
The man is profound, yet casual, and he questions the purpose of life. Circus performers embody weightlessness and have the desire to outperform each other. The artist is a witness to those dare-devil men who, after demanding rehearsals, provide us with a true miracle.
He portrays the race track, the pool room, popular pastimes for men in the sixties, trendy, although a bit “rowdy”, amusements.
Alexandre Pineau’s painting is a tribute to life. He observes his fellow men and relates the major events of this society in the midst of a technological revolution: the first automobiles, defence towers being built, with railroad crossings reminding us of another world.
Where is he leading to? His work is filled with contrasts: a sad clown all by himself or the last trip in a hearse, with only a dog following the procession. His outlook is daring, each painting tells numerous stories, the story of life in all its simplicity. His work is full of contradictions: happiness and sadness, life and death, materiality and spirituality.
A life lived to its fullest.
Thank you, Mister Alexandre Pineau.
Annie Tardos
24 September 2006
August 21, 2006
Before being a popular television game show, the wheel of fortune was a theme that outlived the ages to suggest good fortune or misfortune, luck or hardship, destiny, happy or sad days. Alexandre Pineau was very sensitive to the succession of blows dealt by fate, of life’s ups and downs, right until the moment of death. While Balzac wrote about “The Splendours and Miseries of Courtesans” and “Lost Illusions”, Alexandre Pineau portrayed them. He studied human comedy with a bit of irony, some humour, but also with undeniable compassion.
In most of the artist’s works, the wheel theme is associated with a happy or sad moment of life. Life goes on as a succession of choices, movement brings about novelty and repetition.
The carousel spins round and round, carrying children, horses and clowns. We long for our lost youth. The pink windmill of entertainment turns with the wind of fashion, but it doesn’t move. The violinist and the artist are very lonely. The wheels on sleighs and carts lead us through life and our day to day activities. Every day, we must tackle difficulties.
Bicyclists ride through the countryside to win or lose; trains bring winners back home from the war. Bands add a festive mood with their circular-bell instruments. After warming up in the ring, racing horses make or break bettors’ fortunes. Fight, win or lose, but keep on going despite barriers, this is what we all do, more or less successfully, with more or less noise or public attention.
Jugglers and other red-nosed artists circle the circus ring but don’t make a fortune touring the roads. Symbolic objects are displayed on pedestals and round tables, featuring characters grappling with their destiny. A soft halo lights up the pool table: another game, another competition. The duel swords symbolize the confrontation of two destinies. Life is definitely a struggle. The hearse suggests the end of an individual’s journey, of his personal fate.
Alexandre Pineau certainly knew how to make the most of each and every happy moment by always keeping an eye on setbacks and he understood that the wheel turns for all human beings with the passing of time. With the wheel, the circle, he pictured this succession of moments that seem to repeat themselves throughout human life with some detachment, but also with a definite compassion.
Christophe Pavie
21 August 2006
