Pascal Vinardel
Southern city at dawn
2015

About the Item

Pascal Vinardel was born on April 29, 1951 in Casablanca, Morocco, to brillant cultured parents, his father a lawyer and magistrate and his mother a school teacher. Both parents influenced their child at an early age. Pascal Vinardel was introduced to music by his maternal grandfather, Henri Morette, through playing the cello. Pablo Cazals, the Catalan cellist and Francis Poulenc the French composer were friends of the family, among other celebrated musicians of the time. Later, he found painting a source of meditation which quickly became an extraordinary way to capture the reality that surrounded him. Moving to France in 1965, he undertook literary studies at the prestigious lycée Janson de Sailly, then attended the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he gained his diploma in 1972. After winning all the best prizes that young painters could compete for and receiving recognition at public exhibitions from art dealers and collectors of the day, Pascal Vinardel achieved success in the Casa Velazquez competition, from which he received a grant to stay in Spain for two years. During his stay in Madrid, he developed his art in the company of the Prado masters and made several journeys through Spain studying history of Spanish art in various museums. It was during this time, around 1976, that he established a spacious 19th Century studio in the heart of Paris, where the future President of France, François Mitterrand later discovered his work. Mitterrand was not only a private collector during his presidency from 1980 to 1988 but also supportive of the young artist’s career by acquiring his works through the Palais de l’Elysée to present to foreign heads of state. His work was presented at the Centre Georges Pompidou at the « Ateliers contemporains » exhibition in 1977. He had a personal exhibition at the gallery Albert loeb in 1980. During the same year, his work was presented at the City Hall of Paris for « Figuration d’aujourd’hui ». In 1984 the gallery Albert Loeb organised a large exhibition of his paintings. As his work often took him abroad, he decided to part from his studio and keep only his home base in Paris to welcome his private collectors. The Swiss gallery François Ditesheim organised a large exhibition of Vinardel’s paintings in 1988 for the F.I.A.C at the Grand Palais in Paris, and a year later at his Swiss gallery in Neuchâtel. From 1994 to 2000 Vinardel taught art at l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. He had his first retrospective at the « Espace culturel des Dominicaines » in 2002, at Pont-L’Evêque, in Normandy. Vinardel had a personal exhibition in 2004 at « Art Paris » in the carrousel of the Louvre, at the gallery Visconti/F. Barlier. He then had several shows at the same gallery from 2003 to 2017. He also had several exhibitions at the gallery Vincent Pietryka between 2009 and 2012. This gallery also exhibited his ink drawings at the Grand Palais during the « Salon du dessin et de l’estampe » Paris, in 2011. In 2012, a beautiful monography « Pascal Vinardel , une œuvre » was published, collecting writings about the wonder of his work by renowned art critics, poets and essayists as : Jean-Philippe Domecq, Pascal Riou, Frédéric Musso, James Lord, Anne de Staël, and Jaime Semprun. Vinardel was awarded the honourable distinction in 2013 of « Knight of Arts and Letters » (Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres) by the French Ministry of Culture in Paris In the same year, his ink drawings were exhibited at the Musée Angladon in Avignon, during the event « A livre ouvert » in collaboration with the literary review « Conférence ». Pascal Vinardel acquired an elegant late 18th century Manor House, in the south-west of France in 1993, where he set up his studio and worked on a significant number of commissions for both private collectors and institutions. In 2010 he painted a large piece for the Bordeaux C.C.I. (Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie) called « Les portes du fleuve » (200 x 315 cm) representing an allegory of the famous city through the ages. In 2017, this masterpiece was also part of the prominent exhibition « Présence de la peinture en France (1974- 2016 ) » in the historical town hall of the fith arrondissement, Place du Pantheon, Paris . In 2019 personal exhibition at the gallery Nicolas Deman, Paris 75006 In december 2023 / january 2024, his recent works will be presented at Artborescence gallery, 25 rue de Beaune, Paris 75007 From 20th of january to 20th of may 2024 , an important restrospective of his works will be attended at the Museum of Cultures and Landscapes called « La Banque » in Hyères, Var . and will be also attended at the historical town hall of the fith arrondissement , Place du Pantheon, Paris. in summer 2024 .

Creator:

Pascal Vinardel (1951, French)

Creation Year:

2015

Dimensions:

Height: 9.65 in (24.5 cm)Width: 20.28 in (51.5 cm)

Medium:

Oil

Movement & Style:

French School

Period:

21st Century