PIGNON Édouard
Édouard Pignon (1905-1993), French painter of the new School of Paris, friend of Picasso, creator of the series of cockfights, olive trees, and divers. Lithographs and posters.
Édouard Pignon, from Mining Country to Cockfights
Born in the heart of the mining basin, Édouard Pignon never forgot his roots. From his early paintings dedicated to the workers of the North to his grand, vibrant series featuring cockfights, olive trees, divers, and beaches, he crafted a powerful and colorful oeuvre, straddling figuration and abstraction. Close friend of Pablo Picasso for three decades, he was among the great painters of the new École de Paris.
Landmarks
- 1905: born in Bully-les-Mines, Pas-de-Calais, on February 12.
- Youth: pursued various trades before moving to Paris.
- 1930s: evening classes in Paris, first canvases dedicated to the working world.
- After 1945: major series, the Ostendaises, the Catalanes, the olive trees.
- Late 1950s: start of the cockfight series.
- 1960s: Divers and Nudes on the Beach.
- 1993: died in La Couture-Boussey, Eure, on May 14.
A painter from the working-class world
Born into a mining family in Pas-de-Calais, Édouard Pignon worked from a young age and held various jobs before settling in Paris. There, he attended evening classes and discovered modern painting. His early works reflect the working-class condition, with a gravity that would remain with him. He connected with the socially committed artists of his time and, from the late 1930s, with Picasso, who would become a friend and companion.
The Art of Series
After the war, Pignon works in large series that follow or intertwine. Les Ostendaises, fisherwomen of the North Sea, the Catalanes, then the olive trees and peasants of Provence, captured in the southern light. In the late 1950s, the cockfights begin, an explosion of reds, yellows, and blacks where feathers and bodies merge in motion. Followed by battles, divers, nudes on the beach, warrior heads. Each time, Pignon starts from observed reality to move towards increasingly free, almost abstract painting, without ever breaking from the figure.
Between Figuration and Abstraction
Close to the Communist Party, Pignon nevertheless rejects the socialist realism imposed on him. He exhibits with the great painters of the new School of Paris, such as Maurice Estève, Alfred Manessier or Jean Bazaine, while remaining faithful to the visible world. With his wife, the writer Hélène Parmelin, they form a prominent couple in the intellectual life of the post-war period.
The Lithographer
Pignon has created numerous original lithographs, capturing the energy of his series on paper. The cockfights, with their vivid colors and swirling movement, are particularly suited to this medium. The posters for his exhibitions, printed in lithography, are also highly prized by collectors.
Choosing an Artwork by Édouard Pignon
A lithograph from the cockfighting series is undoubtedly the best entry point into his universe: it encapsulates its color, movement, and strength. The lithographed posters of his Paris exhibitions offer a more accessible approach while maintaining a strong wall presence. Each artwork offered by the gallery is described with precision and sold with an invoice-certificate.
Édouard Pignon at Galerie 125
The gallery presents above the original lithograph Composition, le combat de coqs, from 1967, measuring 56 x 76 cm, as well as lithographed posters from its exhibitions at Galerie de France and Galerie du Passeur, Paris, in 1962. Order online: each artwork is dispatched swiftly, carefully packaged, with tracked and insured shipping. Discover other painters of the new École de Paris: André Marchand and Charles Lapicque.
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