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French Abstract painter
Pierre Wemaëre
was
born on October 1, 1913 in Comines, Flanders, and he died in Versailles January 8, 2010.
Because
of
World
War
One,
his
family
moved
from Comines to
Versailles.
Wemaëre is a patriot and a Catholic, he
dislikes publicity, he is a very modest
person, he is apolitical, he lives a quiet
unobtrusive life in
Versailles,
the former Residential City of the
kingdom
of
France.
Wemaëre has always differed from the
established art world's idea about "the
artist" by never being engaged in any
revolutionary
movement as well as never having a liking
for political organizations and by never
having promoted himself. However, once in a
while, Wemaëre has commented on political
events e.g. Hitler's occupation of
Czechoslovakia
in 1939, the
Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion
of
Prague
and
the May Revolt
of
1968:
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"Il ne triomphera
pas",
1939, oil on canvas,
100x81 cm
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"Clameurs
muettes",
1968, oil and papiers collés, 195x130
cm
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"Vacanes anticipées", 1968, oil
and papiers collés, 130x195 cm |
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"As you can see, I am
living between two churches and their crosses. I
am a Catholic..."
"Moreover I am apolitical, neither left-wing
nor right-wing. Certainly not left-wing, as
young people today seem to be. A logical result
of my upbringing. I am the son of a
general and stand by my bourgeois origin. I
never felt like a revolutionary".
My outlook on life has not been conducive to my
career, I don't want to go against my
convictions. If my paintings are good
everything else seems unimportant. Furthermore I am not an
intellectual, just a craftsman, who has his
heart and his feelings involved in all aspects
of his work." |
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"What is most important in
life?" "As I told you, I believe in God, and I
think, the most important thing we can do is
prepare for life after death. As I have always
felt it important to keep self-control, this can
have limited my artistically display. Neither do
I like to speak about my paintings. Paintings
ought to speak by themselves.
Giving titles should not be necessary.
When I am painting, I never think of titles. I
am just painting. That's all."
"You seem to be a happy person" ... "It is a
part of my education: do not show feelings,
never complain. I think it is my family
heritage. Notice, often my paintings show a sort
of tristesse. Sadness".
From "Georg Andresen, 1971, "Pierre
Wemaëre". Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg, 2001"
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From 1936-37 Wemaëre was a pupil at Fernand
Léger's school, L’Académie de l’Art contemporain,
where his fellow pupils included a person to whom he remained
a steadfast friend, the Danish
artist Asger Jørgensen (who later changed his
last name to Jorn). Unlike Jorn,
Wemaëre wanted to preserve the existing social
order - the army, the Church - but they have
profound respect for each other's political
opinions. Their friendship and partnership
lasted until Jorn's death in 1973, and Wemaëre was
introduced to the Danish art world by Jorn.
Wemaëre has often been described as a weaver,
that is not true, he is a painter even if not a
member of CoBrA.
One of Wemaëre's and Jorn's first common
projects was to enlarge Léger's sketch painting
"Le Transport des forces" for the world
exhibition in Paris
in 1937. Then, Wemaëre and Jorn came into
conflict with Léger's preoccupation with the
aesthetics of the Machine Age in their search
for innovation and their interest in the spontaneous form
of abstract painting.
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In 1938 Wemaëre and Jorn exhibited together at
Galleri Dam & Fønss in Copenhagen.
During his stay in Copenhagen Wemaëre visited
the African collection of
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"Construction",
1939, painting on
canvas, 195x130 cm, ("totem-
painting") |
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"Le
Masque rose", 1958-59, tapestry woven in the workshop Rue St. Denis, Paris,
194x139 cm
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Carl Nutzhorn
Kjersmeier (now at the National Museum of
Denmark). When back in
Paris,
influenced by so-called "primitive art",
Wemaëre executed "totem-paintings".
In 1939 the art collector Solomon R. Guggenheim
invited Wemaëre to the USA, but the outbreak of
World War II prevented Wemaëre from leaving
France, and he stayed in his homeland and took
part in the war to protect his country against
the Germans. The Fall of France 1940 was nothing
less than a catastrophe to Wemaëre, he felt isolated and
restricted in this
dark period, and he stopped painting. During
World War II, he started to weave scarves,
shawls et cetera to
feed
his young family.
At autumn 1946 Asger Jorn returned to Paris
and met
Wemaëre again in
Normandy,
and he was disappointed because Wemaëre
was not painting any longer. He asked him:
"What are you doing"? Wemaëre answered:
"I need to weave to earn money, but I
cannot
paint anymore". Jorn said: "We are going
to try to create a painting in weaving, show me
how you do and we can do it together". Together
they executed "La Lune", 1946,
90x54 cm,
their first of several weavings. They
invented together a new and free way to weave.
Then, they decided to sign all their tapestries
J/W even if Jorn wasn't there.
The
culmination of their common endeavours was the 14 m long
masterpiece:
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Pierre
Wemaëre and Asger Jorn
"Le Long Voyage"
("The Long
Journey"), second
weaving, 2000.
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Thumbnail
photos:
1.
Pierre Wemaëre at
"Atelier 3" in
Paris, where the second
weaving of the tapestry
was executed by the
weavers Frédérique
Bachelleria and Peter
Schönwald. 2.-8. The second weaving,
details, Aarhus
Statsgymnasium (Upper Secondary
School). The
first weaving from 1960 is
housed in Silkeborg Museum
of Art.
9.
"A3" stands for
"Atelier 3".
10.
Aarhus
Statsgymnasium. |
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See
a
full-size image of the
tapestry |
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Asger
Jorn and Pierre Wemaëre, "Le Chariot",
1947,
80x80 cm.
Woven by Asger Jorn and Pierre Wemaëre in Normandy.
Silkeborg Museum of Art |
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Asger
Jorn and Pierre Wemaëre, "L'oiseau dans la
forêt", 1947,
134x252 cm.
First version woven by Pierre Wemaëre in Normandy
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Asger
Jorn and Pierre Wemaëre, "Le Retour",
1948,
86x140 cm.
Woven by Pierre Wemaëre in Normandy, second
version.
Vejen Museum of Art |
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Pierre
Wemaëre, "Tristesse",
1959,
208x140 cm.
Woven in the workshop Rue St. Denis, Paris |
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Pierre
Wemaëre, "Le
grand Mage", 1969,
240x180 cm. Woven by Yvette Prince.
Silkeborg Museum
of Art |
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Pierre
Wemaëre, "Mélancolie",
1988,
200x143 cm.
Woven by Atelier 3, Paris |
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After a long time, as late as in 1955, Wemaëre became
able to resume his painting - the idiom was expressive,
the colors were dark, melancholic.
Wemaëre found a much bigger challenge in working with
abstract compositions constructed out of "the mind's
reality" than in working with interpretation of
tangible reality. Wemaëre's paintings express
spontaneity,
a
thorough-going spontaneity, that is to say, he rarely
lets the first spontaneous expression become "the
painting"; the painting consists of several layers
of spontaneity, the work, therefore, is a result of a
slow working process in spite of the layers of
spontaneity. |
In
his first abstractions he used figurative elements, e.g.
a face, a creature or organic formations, e.g. trees and
plants; from 1955, his paintings took the step into pure
abstraction liberated from figuration. In Wemaëre's
abstract expressive paintings the colors make an
appointment with each other: on one hand, very
contrast-rich vigorous color formations, every painting
has a strong expressive quality; on the other, the
lighter color scheme without contrasting colors, with
expressivity created by heavy brushstrokes.
Wemaëre's paintings, tapestries,
watercolors, Indian ink drawings
and
mixed techniques
are color symphonies evoking feelings of anxiety,
of melancholy, of pleasure.
Wemaëre has never tried to create "meaning in art", if
the spectator wants to find a meaning in his artistic
expression, it is up to the spectator alone, from his or
her own moral, ethical, cultural
or other
understanding of reality to search for it in his
abstract universe or let abstraction be abstraction.
Wemaëre has never been
comme il
faut in his native country, his place in the French
art world has been solitary.
In
the last few years
interest has increased. He does not send work to the
Salon, he exhibits with pleasure on request from
museums and galleries, he often exhibits his work in
Denmark,
he is lavishly represented first and foremost at
Silkeborg Museum of Art - many of the works are
donations from Asger Jorn, and exhibitions of his works
are regularly held at Galerie Moderne in Silkeborg.
He
has received acknowledgement from fellow artists and
others, who consider his works to be some of the best
artistic expression created in French art in the 20th
century. |
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"Espace
d’un songe",
2007, oil and acrylic on canvas,
97x195 cm |
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"Cavalcade sur la grève", 2006, oil and acrylic on
canvas,
40x80 cm |
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Untitled, 2006, oil and acrylic on canvas,
80x115 cm |
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Untitled, 2005,
oil and acrylic on canvas,
100x81
cm |
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Untitled, 2005,
oil
and acrylic on canvas,
73x92
cm |
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"Trinquons", 2005,
painting,
65x92 cm |
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"Meurtrissures", 2003, painting,
100x81 cm |
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"Colère rouge", 2002, painting,
98x146 cm |
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"L'Aquarium de Comines", 2001,
oil and acrylic on canvas,
100x81 cm |
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"Du
vent", 2001,
painting,
65x92 cm |
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"Tu n'es pas facile", 1998,
painting,
92x72 cm |
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"En Reflexion", 1997, olie og acryl på lærred,
92x73 cm |
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"Ambigu", 1992,
painting,
73x92 cm |
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"Forge fragile", 1991,
painting,
258x208 cm |
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"Le Perroquet chantant", 1991,
painting,
208x98 cm |
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"Une autre influence", 1990,
oil on canvas,
100x81 cm |
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"Grâce à trois", 1980,
painting,
81x100 cm |
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"Regard qui attache", 1976,
painting,
89x116 cm |
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"A L'ombre", 1975,
painting,
116x89 cm |
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"Le Jour et la Nuit", 1969, oil on
canvas,
66x82 cm |
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"Yvette", 1966,
oil on canvas,
61x50 cm |
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"Demier essayage", 1961, oil on
canvas,
92x73 cm |
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"Rose
attendu", 1958,
painting,
100x81 cm |
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"Graffiti", 1957,
painting,
54x65 cm |
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Untitled, 1957,
oil on masonite,
64x48 cm |
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"L'arbre à tapis", 1956,
painting,
100x72 cm |
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"Les trois masques souriants", 1939,
painting,
81x65 cm |
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Untitled, 1939,
oil on canvas,
55x38 cm |
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Asger Jorn and Pierre Wemaëre,
"Peinture murale"
1938
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"Le joueur de jazz", 1937,
painting,
100x81 cm |
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Other
artistic techniques |
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"Naseaux de feu", 1990,
technique mixte sur papier,
70x50 cm |
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Techniques mixtes sur papier,
1989,
100x70 cm |
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"La Fuite en Egypte", 1971,
gouache et encre de Chine sur papier,
27x36 cm |
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Gouache and ink on paper, 1967,
35x26 cm |
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"En goguette", 1965 ,
gouache et encre de Chine sur papier,
32x44 cm |
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"La Noce", 1963,
gouache et encre de Chine sur papier,
50x65 cm |
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Gouache and ink on paper, 1959,
32x25 cm |
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Gouache and ink on paper, 1959,
32x25 cm |
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Gouache and ink on paper, 1938,
27x21 cm |
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Gouache and ink on paper, 1938,
27x21 cm |
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Exhibitions
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1937 |
Salon des Indépendants, Grand Palais, Paris |
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1938 |
Galerie Dam & Fønns,
Copenhagen (together with
Asger Jorn) |
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1957 |
Galerie Paul
Facchetti, Paris |
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1958/59/60 |
Tooth Galery, London |
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1960 |
Galerie des 4 Saisons,
Paris |
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1961 |
Palazzo Grassi, Venice |
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1961 |
Galerie Birch,
Copenhagen |
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1963 |
Silkeborg
Museum of Art,
Denmark |
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1963 |
Galerie Rive Gauche,
Paris |
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1963 |
Galerie Jysk Kunst, Aarhus, Denmark |
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1963-64 |
Silkeborg Museum of Art, Denmark |
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1964
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Galerie Rive Gauche,
Paris |
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1966 |
Galerie Birch, Copenhagen |
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1967 |
Salon de Mai, Grand Palais, Paris |
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1968
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Les
Cimaises Ventadour, Paris |
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1966
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Galerie Birch,
Copenhagen |
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1966
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Chateau
de Flavignerot, Dijon |
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1969
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Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg,
Denmark |
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1970 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Denmark |
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1971 |
Rétrospective,
Randers Museum of Art,
Denmark |
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1971 |
"Made
in France", Galerie Moderne,
Silkeborg, Denmark |
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1973
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Randers Kunstmuseum,
Denmark |
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1974
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Dimension 5, Paris |
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1974
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Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Denmark |
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1975
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FIAC,
Galerie Riedel, Paris |
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1977 |
Kunstforum, Gand, Belgium |
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1977 |
Galerie
Trudvang, Larvik, Norway |
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1977-79 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Denmark |
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1980 |
"40
ans de peinture", rue
Saint-Martin, Paris |
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1981 |
"Grands formats", Maison
de la culture d’Amiens |
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1982 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Denmark |
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1983
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Galerie
Riedel, Paris |
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1985 |
Musées des Arts décoratifs, Paris |
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1985 |
Gl Holtegaard, Holte, Denmark. With Asger Jorn |
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1984
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Galerie
Christian Cheneau, Paris |
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1984 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Denmark |
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1986 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Denmark |
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1989
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Galerie
Galise Petersen, Thonon les Bains |
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1990
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Galerie
Philippe Vichot, Paris |
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1991
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Galerie
de l’Arcade, Paris
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1991
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Galerie
Galise Petersen, Thonon les Bains |
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1993 |
"80 ans
de l'artiste", Galerie Moderne Silkeborg,
Denmark |
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1997 |
Galerie
Egelund, Copenhagen |
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1998
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Couvent des
Cordeliers, Paris "Embrasement de la couleur",
rétrospective 1938-1998 |
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1998
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Silkeborg Museum of Art, Denmark |
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1998
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Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Denmark |
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2000
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Petit
Palais,
Paris "Le Long Voyage", tapisseries Jorn/Wemaëre |
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2000
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Silkeborg Museum of Art, Denmark |
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2000
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Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Denmark |
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2001-02
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Musée Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine,
Angers
"L'Harmonie
des contraires", rétrospective peintures et
tapisseries |
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2003
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Silkeborg Museum of Art, Denmark |
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2003
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Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Denmark |
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2004
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Espace Johnson et
Johnson, Paris |
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2005 |
Art Paris 2005,
galerie Guillaume |
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2005 |
Gl. Holtegaard,
Holte, Denmark |
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2005 |
Silkeborg Museum of Art, Denmark |
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2005 |
Galerie Egelund,
Denmark |
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2005 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Denmark |
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2005 |
KOUROSgallery, New York |
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2006 |
KOUROSgallery, New York |
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2007
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Nico
Koster - Galerie Moderne,
Amsterdam |
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2007
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Pierre
Wemaëre, Œuvres sur papier, Galerie Guillaume,
Paris. |
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2007
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Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg,
Denmark, October 6-December 8, 2007 |
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2008 |
Guy Flichy
Gallery Greenwich, Connecticut US.
Catalogue text by Guy Flichy: "An auspicious
meeting"
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2008 |
Galerie
Guillaume, 34 rue de L'Arcade, Paris |
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Pierre Wemaëre at Galerie Moderne,
Silkeborg, Denmark,
6/10/2007.
Since 1969
Wemaëre has
exhibited regularly at
Galerie Moderne. |
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| Literature |
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1938 |
Galerie
Dam et Fønss, Copenhg. Critiq. par l'artiste Eiler
Bille, Kritisk Tidsskrift, 1938 |
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1957 |
Galerie
Paul Facchetti, Paris, texte de Christian Dotremont |
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1958 |
"Mouvement
et forme", Asger Jorn "Pour la forme"
éditée par l'Internationale situationniste, 1958
p87, 88, 90 |
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1960 |
Galerie
des Quatre Saisons, Paris, texte de Gaston Bachelard
et Michèle Bernstein |
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1960 |
Galerie
des Quatre Saisons, Paris, texte d'Yvon Taillandier |
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1960 |
Jorn-Wemaëre. Le long
voyage, Paris |
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1960 |
R. Dahlmann Olsen,
in "Arkitekten" (a periodical for
architects) 23, 1960. |
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1960 |
"Pour
la Forme",
Michèle Bernstein, Asger Jorn, 1960 p. 87, 88, 90
Bibliothèque d'Alexandrie n°3 |
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1960 |
Gaston
Bachelard, "La Création ouverte", 1960,
Bibliothèque d'Alexandrie n°3 |
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1961 |
Ejnar Johansson,
Gutenberghus Aarsskrift |
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1963 |
Galerie
Rive Gauche, Paris, texte d'Yvon Taillandier |
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1963 |
Silkeborg
Kunstmuseum, Danemark, Hans Kjaerholm et texte de Jean des Vignes Rouge |
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1963-64 |
"Wemaëre",
cataloque, Silkeborg Museum of art |
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1964 |
A
propos de la couverture, Danish Foreign Office
journal n°24, 1964 R. Dahlmann Olsen |
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1966 |
Paul Raae, Galerie Birch, Copenhagen |
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1971 |
Ib
Sinding, Retrospective, 1972, Randers Museum of Art,
Denmark |
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1972 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Danemark, texte de Ib Sinding |
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1973 |
Musée
de Randers, Danemark, texte de Erik Johansen |
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1974 |
Michel
Seuphor, "L'art abstrait", tome 4 p. 282,
Maeght, |
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1975 |
Inge
Bjoern, Cras VII |
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1977 |
Tapisserie,
Pierre Wemaëre dans "Jorn, The crucial years
1954-1964", Guy Atkins pages 111 à 118, Borgen,
Copenhague, 1977 |
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1979 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Danemark, texte de Per Hovdenakk |
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1980 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg présente une rétrospective à
Paris, texte de Jean-Claude Carrière |
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1981 |
Gladys
Fabre, "Paris-Paris 1937-1957", centre
Georges Pompidou |
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1982 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Danemark, texte sur les
tapisseries Jorn/Wemaëre de Per Hovdenakk, Pierre
Wemaëre, Gaston Bachelard,
Jean Clarence Lambert, Frédérique
Bachellerie et Péter Schönwald |
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1984 |
Troels
Andersen, Gutenberghus Aarsskrift |
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1984 |
Gaston
Bachelard, Inge Bjoern, Cras XXXVII |
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1988 |
Geneviève
Bonnefoi, Les années fertiles, 1940-1960, p. 125,
Mouvements éditions |
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1990 |
Galerie
Moderne Silkeborg, Danemark, textes de Troels
Andersen et Per Hovdenakk |
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1990 |
Galerie
Vichot, Paris, texte de François Duret-Robert |
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1996 |
France
Danemark, "les relations artistiques au Xxème
siècle", pages 59, 61, 140, 142, 143, 165, et
76 à 83 par Mette Hosjgaard, édité par
Sophienholm, Danemark juin 1996
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2000 |
Petit
Palais Le Long Voyage, Paris introduction avec
reprise texte de Jorn
et texte de Pierre Wemaëre, reprise texte de
Bachelard, reprise et arrangement texte de Wemaëre,
texte de Frédérique Bachellerie et Peter
Schönwald, |
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2000 |
Galerie
Moderne, Danemark texte de Stig Krabbe Barfoed |
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2001 |
"Critique
de l'image quotidienne Asger Jorn",
Laurent Gervereau, Cercle d'Art, collection
Diagonales, 2001 |
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2001 |
Musée
Jean Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine,
texte de Gilbert Lascault, entretien Pierre Wemaëre
avec Françoise de Loisy, première liste exhaustive
des tapisseries |
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2004 |
"Paul
Facchetti Le Studio, art informel et abstraction
lyrique" par Frédérique Villemur et Brigitte
Pietrazak, Actes Sud
2004 pp
77, 78 rep. Union sous les voûtes, 1958 |
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2003 |
Pierre
Wemaëre 90, Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg, Denmark. Catalogue
text by Torben Weirup, art critic for the Danish
newspaper Berlingske Tidende |
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2005 |
Gl.
Holtegaard, Jorn/Wemaëre, Mette Hoejsgaard |
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2005 |
Pierre
Wemaëre, Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg, Denmark. Catalogue
texts by Georg Andresen and Per Hovdenakk. |
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2007 |
Pierre
Wemaëre, Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg, Denmark. Catalogue
text by
Stig Winding |
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Dictionnaires |
|
Bénézit,
1999 p. 534 Dictionnaire critique et documentaire
des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs
de tous les temps et de tous les pays / E. Benezit.
- Nouv. ed. - Paris : Gründ, 1999. - 14 dl. ISBN
2-7000-3010-9
Lydia Harambourg, "l’Ecole de Paris 1945-65"
dictionnaire des peintres, édition
Ides et Calendes, 1993
Witt
Checklist, 1978 p.325 A Checklist of Painters c
1200-1976 Represented in the Witt Libary, Courtauld
Institute of Art, London. - London : Mansell, 1978
[ISBN 0-7201-0718-0]
Saur
Bio-Bibliographischer, dl. 10, p. 475 index
1999-2000 Allgemeines Künstlerlexicon. Bio-bibliographischer
Index. A-Z, 10 dln., München/Leipzig 1999-2000
Jean-Pierre Delarge, "Dictionnaire des Arts plastiques
modernes et contemporains", p. 1327, 2001,
Gründ.
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