James PICHETTE (1920-1996) - Lot 28

James PICHETTE (1920-1996) Blue, red and brown composition Gouache on paper mounted on canvas, signed lower right Dimensions: 15.5 x 13.5 cm Size with frame: 20.5 x 18.5 cm James Pichette is a painter associated with the informal art movement. After serving in the infantry during the war, he was forced to spend an extended period in the high mountains of Savoy, where he began painting figurative pictures in 1942. He returned to his native province and settled in Aigurande in 1943. In contact with the Resistance, he took part in parachute drops. After the liberation of Paris, he returned to the capital. In 1947, he exhibited for the first time at the Salon des Surindépendants. The same year, he left for Italy, spending several months in Rome. He worked in the Cinecitta studios, where he produced his first abstract works. He exhibited at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in 1950. In 1952, he was awarded a scholarship to study in the Netherlands and became a boarder at the Maison Descartes in Amsterdam. Charles Estienne's Salon d'Octobre (1952-1953) led the charge for lyrical abstraction, in which he participated alongside Huguette Arthur Bertrand. Moving to New York in 1960, he developed a passion for jazz, befriending a number of great musicians. Back in France, he took part in various jazz-painting experiments, including the first Free Jazz festival, held at Bobino in January 1967. He produced his first monumental work in Vitry-sur-Seine, in 1971. In 1976, James Pichette began teaching at the Ecole Nationale d'Art Décoratif in Nice. He exhibits regularly at the Salon des Grands et Jeunes d'Aujourd'hui and the Salon de Mai. The circle first appeared in his work in 1970. In 1985, he began working on the "Espace jazzique", a theme that occupies his paintings for a long time. His works can be found in most of the world's modern art museums, in Algeria, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and the United States. Bibliography : - La peinture abstraite et l'ouvre de James Pichette, Roger Garaudy, ARTED, éditions d'art, Paris 1969 - James Pichette 30 années de peinture (brochure produced for the travelling exhibition of James Pichette's works) M.J.C " Les Hauts de Belleville " Paris, February 20 - March 15, 1975. Presentation by Richard Xuriguera. - James Pichette, peintures et estampes 1968-1978, (brochure produced for the exhibition at the Musée Départemental - Abbaye de Saint-Riquier from June 23 to September 23, 1979. - Pichette, (brochure produced for the exhibition at the Maison des Arts et Loisirs in Sochaux from March 1 to April 6, 1986) - Pichette, Jean-Jacques Lévêque, Editions Hervas, 1990 - James Pichette, 30 années de peinture et le jazz, Presentation by Françis Hofstein, background notes by Richard Chambon Editions Hervas, 1991 Lots will be collected by appointment on Wednesday March 5, 2025 in Paris XVe (Metro: Sevres-Lecourbe, or Pasteur).