L E C O R B U S I E Rgraphic works

A n e x h i b i t i o n b y

GALERIE ALEXIS PENTCHEFFAKTIS GALLERY

9 nov - 8 dec 2018

With twenty-five original works, Galerie Alexis Pentcheff and Aktis Gallery are de-lighted to present an exclusive exhibition dedicated to one of the greatest architects of his time, Le Corbusier.

As an emblematic figure of modernity, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbu-sier (1887 - 1965), is all at once: architect, urban planner, painter, sculptor, designer and poet. Intrinsically linked, his architectural language and his plastic vocabulary have had a significant influence on the 20th-century avant-garde. In search of the universal man, the Open Hand’s creator relentlessly explores the field of possibilities of the modern world and thus impulses a new way of living through his revolutionary urban vision and his new measurement standard, the Modulor.

The body of work presented at Galerie Alexis Pentcheff aims to highlight the richness of Le Corbusier’s artistic production and its role in modern architecture. A few kilometres away from the Cité Radieuse, built by the architect in Marseille in 1952, visitors will be invited to discover the essence of his creative process through this unique ensemble of graphic works.

Today internationally recognised for his architectural achievements, it is all the complexity and synergy of Le Corbusier’s visionary artistic production that this pictorial proposal tries to unveil.

« I am relentlessly consumed by the need

to create. I have a passion, the arts and du-

ties, the consequences of my ideas. It is the

crusade I must lead. »

L e C o r b u s i e r

WWW.GALERIEPENTCHEFF.FR

9 NOV - 8 DEC 2018

L E C O R B U S I E R :

THE GRAPHIC WORK UNVEILED

In his drawings, an art form that Le Corbusier considers to be fundamental, all the creative mind of the

architect-artist is crystallized. Marked by his German education and his passion for cognitive sciences,

sensory emotions are at the core of his work. The «acoustic» space of his paintings opens to spirituality

while colour brings volumetry to the structure. Regulated by an axonometric perspective, the painting is

no longer a surface but rather becomes a space in itself

Le Corbusier’s corpus of work can be divided into several periods, each one marked by distinct influences

and aesthetics. From 1918 to 1925, Ch. E. Jeanneret signs multiple works grounded in purist precepts

theorized with Amédée Ozenfant and in which they confer a superior, spiritual value to geometrical

forms. The construction of volume is then emphasized by a palette reduced to what the two artists call

the «great range» - yellow ocher, red, white, black, and ultramarine blue, to name a few.

In 1925, Le Corbusier breaks away from the movement. During this «post-purist» period, he develops a

more airy and personal style, imbued with a new sensuality. In 1928, he definitely frees himself from the

purist austerity and integrates human form, «objets à réaction poétique» (poetical reaction objects) and

daily objects. As an evidence of his intertwined artistic language, the architect transmutes these graphic

elements in his architectural work in 1933 for the Pavillon Suisse of the Cité Universitaire de Paris.

Following this emancipation, his works reveal a new vivid palette, open to new fields of experimenta-

tion. In the female form, the artist unveils his personal conflicts, focusing on his very own desires and

bodies’ sensuality. Nevertheless, one may still perceive some recurring themes - especially order, univer-

sality, rigour and a utopian structure - persisting in his last pictorial series «Ozon», «Ubu» and «Bull».

In the «atelier de la recherche patiente» (workshop of patient research), Le Corbusier draws, paints,

creates. This imaginary place actually illustrates the essence of his creative genius and demonstrates that

a dissociation between his architectural and pictorial production would be impossible. Often neglected

in favour of his revolutionary concrete habitations, his graphic work is however consecrated in 1962,

during an exhibition organized at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris. Yet, Le Corbusier never

denied the role of painting and drawing, to which he devotes half of his day throughout his life: «I think

that if we grant something to my work as an architect, it is to this secret work that we must attribute its

profound virtue.»

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F O C U S :PEINTURE MURALE POUR LA MAISON DE

JEAN BADOVICI À VÉZELAY

Suite à la demande de son ami, l’architecte roumain Jean Badovici, Le Corbusier se rend dans la maison

de ce dernier à Vézelay en 1935 afin d’y réaliser une peinture murale aux côtés du peintre Fernand Lé-

ger, lui aussi mandaté pour la réalisation d’une œuvre voisine. De cette cohabitation artistique naît un

dialogue entre le peintre et l’architecte, tous deux animés par une utopique volonté de créer une «syn-

thèse des arts majeurs».

Ce dessein est pour Le Corbusier un élément essentiel à la «deuxième ère de la civilisation machiniste».

Convaincu par la nécessité de cette union et son incidence poétique, l’architecte-artiste esquisse en sep-

tembre 1945 son concept sur « l’espace indicible », espace non commensurable à résonances multiples,

dans lequel cohabitent toutes les expressions artistiques et sensorielles – à la fois optiques et acoustiques.

Pour Fernand Léger, ce projet commun sera le point de départ d’une longue réflexion sur le rôle plas-

tique mais également la portée sociale de la peinture murale dans les années 1930. Se libérant du carcan

bourgeois de la peinture de chevalet, elle redevient un membre actif de la vie quotidienne, accessible au

peuple.

Les rapports que le peintre et l’architecte entretiennent à la peinture murale vont néanmoins considéra-

blement s’éloigner. Léger va continuer d’oeuvrer pour l’intégration de la peinture à l’architecture par le

biais de ses collaborations à de nombreux projets à l’étranger notamment avec Paul Nelson et Wallace

K. Harrison. Son engagement politique va dicter une nouvelle esthétique qui se reflètera sur la scène

artistique internationale. Le Corbusier, lui, va se concentrer sur ses propres recherches sur l’habitation

moderne et la synthèse des arts.

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Two Naked, Seated Women and Shell, 1935signed et dated lower left: Le Corbusier 1935, 67 x 89 cm

Much more than a decorative work, the mural painted by Le Corbusier in Vézelay aims to free the surface

of the wall and therefore to make it lose its own volume. Jean Badovici, with whom Le Corbusier shares

his theories on spatiality along with painting’s and architecture’s autonomy, declares: «[Le Corbusier]

unleashes contemporary painting from prostitution [and] has comprehended that a painting is always a

liberation. It always opens a wall. [...] Le Corbusier’s painting only accuses contemporary architecture by

exempting and emancipating it from itself.» (Jean Badovici in the Architecture of today, March 1937)

Nonetheless, the architect’s position remains slightly ambiguous. Indeed, he claims both the autonomy

of his architecture, and, the integration of painting for the purpose of a genuine synthesis of the arts.

This ambivalence, and at the same time, this radicality that inhabits Le Corbusier, cause few arguments,

including one with André Bloc founder of the Association for a synthesis of the arts which will then end

with a withdrawal of the architect from the group.

During this exhibition held in Marseille at Alexis Pentcheff Gallery, a very beautiful study of the mural

painted at Jean Badovici’s house in Vézelay entitled « Two Naked, Seated Women and Shell » dating

from 1935, will be presented and will illustrate this pictorial research.

LE

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5) Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier, was born on October 6, 1887, in La

Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. In 1900, he trains as an engraver-carver in the local art

school and then joins in 1904 an interior design class taught by Charles L’Eplattenier who

then influences him to become an architect.

Le Corbusier’s first artistic shock takes place in 1907, in a trip to Italy during which he disco-

vers the Florence Charterhouse in Galluzzo and declares « I thought I could never see such a

radiant interpretation of architecture [...] The harmonious organization of the individual and

the collective is solved in joy, serenity and efficiency ». From this encounter, the artist deve-

lops a profound fascination for the generic space of the box, later illustrated by his theories on

the «cell».

After travelling for a few years, Le Corbusier moves to Paris in 1917 and meets the painter

Amédée Ozenfant in 1918 through Auguste Perret. The following year, they found the maga-

zine Esprit Nouveau and develop several theories defining the purist art movement, which ad-

vocates for a harmonious aesthetic gained by the simplicity of geometrical forms. The first ar-

ticle dedicated to architecture is signed by Le Corbusier - a pseudonym that Charles-Edouard

Jeanneret will keep throughout his career as an architect.

In 1922, he opens a studio rue de Sèvres in Paris with his cousin, the architect and furniture

designer Pierre Jeanneret. From his articles, encounters and close friends, Le Corbusier ima-

gines a new architectural vocabulary largely influenced by his obsessions with science and

new technologies: «the machine for living» (the house), «the equipment of the house» (the

furniture) and «the rest machine» (the seat).

The «Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau», prototype of a building-villas project, presented on the

occasion of the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris in 1925, represents a

genuine architectural manifesto in which the domestic organization is completely redefined.

The idea of the living cell is here guided by the purist ideology and a furious desire to create

a complete work of art. The former imposing wooden furniture is replaced by metal equip-

ment, governed by functionality and space saving. Hence, Le Corbusier shakes up, provokes,

defies the architectural traditions and establishes in 1927 the five points of modern architec-

ture: pilotis, free plan, free facade, ribbon windows, roof garden.

That same year, the architect meets Charlotte Perriand who will settle in his studio until 1937.

They present together with Pierre Jeanneret their first series of furniture, edited by Thonet

Frères, at the Salon d’Automne in 1929. Considerably involved in the international art scene,

Le Corbusier is in 1928 one of the founding members of the International Congress of Mo-

dern Architecture (CIAM for Congrés International d’Architecture Moderne).

WWW.GALERIEPENTCHEFF.FR

LE

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(18

87

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5) Between 1929 and 1945, the unstable political context in France and Europe generates mul-

tiple economic and social crises and therefore creates new urban concentration constraints.

While trying to solve these recent issues, the architect, designer and also painter reveals all

his creative force in an innovative production, freeing himself from the purist dictates. From

this, Le Corbusier unveils a more personal style, led by the idea of order, harmony and social

utopia.

At the end of the Second World War, the «Modulor» principle, resulting from several years of

research on spatiality of the body and urban space, becomes the keystone of his work. Hence,

a typical man of 1.83 m or 2.26 m with the arm raised defines Le Corbusier’s constructive

harmony. Through the line, one may read the morphogenesis of the form, governed by the

spatial determination of the Modulor. With the notion of «corporality», sensory experiences

emanate. The artist speaks in this sense of «acoustic» paintings whose spirituality is unveiled

by the symphony of plastic elements. This language, invariably linked to the lexical field of

music, is reminiscent of its family propensity for this form of expression.

Among Le Corbusier’s most notable buildings, the Villa Savoye (1928-1931) in Poissy remains

one of the first testimonies of the two cousins radiant collaboration. The Cité Radieuse, built

in Marseille in 1952 and commissioned by Raoul Dautry, is also a jewel of modern architecture

within the Mediterranean landscape. The housing unit is based on the principle of harmoni-

zation between the individual and the collective, one of Le Corbusier’s recurring obsessions

since his discovery of Florence Charthouse. The aim of this building is to provide individual

well-being through the development of each rigorously integrated cell within a functional

collective structure grounded in the idea of balance and social fulfilment.

The reorganization of Chandigarh (1951-1965) in India, commissioned by Nehru, is also one

of the most ambitious projects of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. The architect sees it as

an «expression of the nation’s faith in the future». With this tremendous and ambitious ur-

ban work, he is finally able to apply his theories to an entire city. It is also the place where Le

Corbusier defines the Open Hand’s concept - an ideological symbol, born from the Cold War

context, by which a man gives and receives. It will be built eventually in 1985.

Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris dies August 27, 1965 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.

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SELECTED WORKS

Still Life with guitar, pile of plates, an open book, pipes, bottles and glasses, 1961

Collage of various papers, color gouache, heightened with white gouache and Indian ink74 x 81 cmMonogrammed and dated lower right:L - C / 1920 - 61

Provenance: private collection, Paris

Two Naked, Seated Women and Shell

Study for the mural of Vézelay 1935

1935Collage of gouache on paper,

brown paper67 x 89 cm

Signed and dated lower left: Le Corbusier / 1935

Provenance: private collection, Paris

Certificate of authenticity issued by Mr Éric Mouchet

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Located in the centre of Marseille, the gallery was founded by

Alexis and Giulia Pentcheff in 2009. Galerie Alexis Pentcheff

specialises in painting from the latter half of the 19th Century

to the first half of the 20th Century, including Impressionism

and Modern Art, with a focus on the most talented artists who

worked in Provence. However, the gallery opens also its doors

to French and international artists whose work may be relevant

to the gallery’s artistic programme.

Since its opening, the art gallery has organised more than thirty

exhibitions and has participated in several international art fairs

such as BRAFA in Brussels. Over the years, Alexis Pentcheff

gallery has strengthened its position in the arts scene and has

collaborated on a variety of projects - exhibitions, catalogues,

events.

In 2015, the gallery launched two new central activities and

doubled its size, offering collectors an entirely dedicated space:

“Le Puits Aux Livres”, an art bookshop settled within the galle-

ry and “Encadrement by Pentcheff”, a space dedicated to presti-

gious picture frames, adjoining the gallery.Aktis Gallery is dedicated to modern art, in particular the émi-

gré art of 20th century Paris. The gallery is one of the leading

specialists in the post-war lyrical abstraction movement, focu-

sing on the internationally renowned Chinese émigré artists

Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun (as well as the contemporary

Chinese émigré Gao Xingjian), Russian lyrical abstractionists

such as André Lanskoy and Serge Poliakoff and European ar-

tists from this movement including Georges Mathieu, Otto

Freundlich, Geer van Velde, Bram van Velde and André Mar-

faing.

Situated in St. James’s, at the heart of the London art-world,

Aktis Gallery has established itself as a leading destination for

museum quality exhibitions. As a member of the esteemed So-

ciety of London Art Dealers (SLAD), the gallery participates

in London Art Week and Asian Art in London and in interna-

tional events such as Biennale des Antiquaires (Paris), BRAFA

(Brussels) and Art Genève (Geneva). The gallery also hosts a

diverse programme of press conferences, concerts, film scree-

nings and thematic discussions related to the works of art on

display.

131 - 133 rue Paradis MARSEILLE

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10 - 11 Park PlaceLONDON

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L E C O R B U S I E Rgraphic works

I N F O R M AT I O N & C O N TA C T

EXHIBITIONFrom 9 November to 8 December 2018Opening 8 November from 7 pm

GALERIE ALEXIS PENTCHEFF131 - 133 rue Paradis13006 MARSEILLE

T/ + 33 6 82 72 95 79 T/ + 33 4 91 42 81 33

PRESS

Claudia GolettoT FR/ +33 6 49 00 86 00T UK/ +44 747 239 363E/ claudia.goletto@gmail.com

From Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 12 pm and 2 pm to 6:30 pm

E/ a.pentcheff@gmail.com

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