Jean Le Gac Explained

Jean Le Gac (born May 6, 1936, in Alès, France)^[1] is a French conceptual artist, painter, pastelist, photographer using mixed media,^[2] frequently video or photography and text to document his investigations and sketched scenes. His poetic photographic interventions in which he is most often the main subject are accompanied either by typed text describing the underlying story in the artwork or handwritten notes in the art piece itself.^[3] Member of the Narrative art movement^[4] since the seventies, Le Gac ofttimes tells a story about an imaginary character that viewers can easily identify with the artist himself.^[5] He calls it a “metaphor for painting."^[6] Le Gac also uses the artist's book as a central part of his art practice.^[7] Le Gac is a Professor and lecturer at Institut des hautes études en arts plastiques.

Le Gac was selected to represent France at the Venice Biennale in 1972 and at Documenta 5 in 1972 in Kassel, Germany. Following Jean Le Gac's first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1973 in Oxford, United Kingdom, Jean-Hubert Martin, a leading art historian and curator of international exhibitions organized the first Le Gac exhibition in France at the Centre Pompidou in 1978.

In 1991, France's national state-owned railway company (SNCF) commissioned Le Gac to create work for the stained glass ceiling of the newly renovated train station in the Alsatian town of Colmar in France. Through his glass enclosed paintings, Le Gac drew the adventures of twin sisters who were tied up next to the rails but saved by a painter hero.^[8]

In 1992, Le Gac was commissioned by the City of Cannes, France, to realize four multi-media artworks in the old fortress prison of the Fort Royal of Île Sainte-Marguerite, famous for having ‘hosted’ the Masque de Fer (Man in the Iron Mask) incarcerated during the reign of King Louis XIV of France during the 17th century. Le Gac used aquarelle, pastel, acrylic paint, and video projections to create murals in four different jail cells of the fort. Each painting is associated with a video in which a fixed image of the artist appears and whispers a story of the paintings.^[9]

As in many of his other works, the concurrent use of text and image allows Le Gac to draw us into his poetic imagination, transporting the viewers in his inner voyages full of trains, dreams, plants, pastels, and photographs, the traces of real and imaginary wanderings.^{[10] [11]} One typical such early work is “Le Roman d’Aventure” made in 1972, where Le Gac represents himself both as the painter searching for an elusive character he never catches up with and as the narrator behind the camera that documents his desperate search.^[12] In those “photo-texts” as Le Gac call them, he talks about himself in the third person and chases his own elusive dream of becoming a painter.^[13]

Selected solo exhibitions

• 1973: “Imitations of Jean Le Gac” at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, United Kingdom^[14]
• 1978: “Le Peintre, Exposition Romancée, Jean Le Gac,” at the Musée National d'Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou^[15]
• 1984: “Jean Le Gac : un peintre de rêve" at the Musée d'art Moderne de Paris, France.^[16]
• 1992: “Jean Le Gac et les peintres amateurs de Fribourg”, Fri-Art - Centre d'Art Contemporain, Fribourg, Switzerland^[17]
• 1994: “Jean Le Gac : días con y sin pintura” Museo Provincial de Valencia, Valencia, Spain^[18]
• 2003: Musée du Château Villeneuve, Vence, France^[19]
• 2006: Villa Tamaris, La Seyne-sur-Mer, France^[20]
• 2007: Jean Le Gac "en dormant, en lisant" à l’arsenal, in Soissons, France^[21]
• 2009: “Effraction douce”, Musée des tapisseries, Aix en Provence, France^[22]
• 2010: Jean Le Gac dans la collection àcentmètresdumonde, Hôtel Campredon, Maison René Char, L'Isle-sur-la-sorgue, France and at the Pavillon Carré de Baudouin, Paris, France^[23]
• 2022: Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire, France, retrospective: “Jean Le Gac, la peinture à lire” (“Paintings you can read”).^{[24] [25]}

Selected group exhibits

• Venice Biennale, French selection in 1972
• Documenta in Kassel, Germany, in 1972 (Documenta 5) and in 1977 (Documenta 6).
• Kunstmuseum in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1972^[26]
• Exhibited in New York, NY, at the John Gibson Gallery in 1974,^[27] in 1976, and in 1979^[28] and in 1982 at the Hal Bromm gallery.^[29]
• “Hermit, Researcher, Social Worker? Changing artists’ self-understanding” exhibition at the Kunstverein Museum, Hamburg, Germany in 1979^[30]
• “An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture” at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York, NY in 1984^[31]
• “L’Époque, la Mode, la Morale, la Passion,” group show at the Musée National d'Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, in 1987.^[32]
• “More ore than One Photography: Works since 1980 from the Collection” at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York, NY in 1992^[33]
• “Adding It Up: Print Acquisitions 1970–1995” at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York, NY in 1995^[34]
• What does the jellyfish want?, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany in 2007^[35]
• “Don Quijote Group Show,” Centro Federico García Lorca, Granada, Spain in 2017^[36]
• “Is this how men live?” The Maeght Foundation Collection in 2018^[37]
• La Base, Espacio cultural de La Marina de Valencia, Spain, in 2021^[38]
• Musée d'art moderne et contemporain (MAMC) Saint Etienne, France in 2021-2022^[39]

Collections

• 25 artworks at Centre Pompidou – Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France^[40]
• Artwork at MOMA, New York, NY^[41]
• Artwork by Le Gac at the MACBA Museum in Barcelona, Spain^[42]
• MAMCO / Musée d´art moderne et contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland^[43]
• Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain (MAMAC), Nice, France^[44]
• MUMOK / Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, Austria^[45]
• Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands^[46]
• Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH), Houston, Texas^[47]
• Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands,^[48]

Public works

• In 1986, Le Gac was commissioned to paint a mural on a 5-story building wall in Paris, at 52 Rue de Belleville, 20th arrondissement, that represents a kneeled down detective searching for the painter.^[49]
• In 1991, Le Gac was commissioned by SNCF (National Company of French Railways) to create works on the glass ceiling of a train station in Colmar, France.^[50]
• In 1992, Le Gac was commissioned by the City of Cannes, France, to realize four multi-media artworks in the old prison of the Fort of Île Sainte-Marguerite.^[51]

Bibliography

• “Imitation of Jean Le Gac” Authors: Jean Le Gac, Translated by Vivien Gordon, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England, English language, Publisher: Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, 1973^[52]
• “Jean Le Gac : le décor, le roman d'aventures, les vues, le peintre, les images bavardes, les anecdotes” Authors: Jean Le Gac, Muzʼeon Yiśrael, Jerusalem, Israel, language English, Publisher: Musée d'Israël, Jérusalem, Israel, 1974^[53]
• “Jean Le Gac par Le Gac Jean” Authors: Ann Hindry, Jean Le Gac, Musée Léon Dierx, French language, published by Cercle d'Art ; Musée Léon Dierx : Conseil général de la Réunion; Editions Sainte Opportune, Paris, France, 1992,
• “La chasse au trésor de Jean Le Gac” (exposition, Musée de Saint Germain en Laye, 24 octobre 2007-5 mai 2008) Authors: Jean Le Gac, Musée d'archéologie nationale France, French, published by Réunion des Musées nationaux, Paris, 2007,
• “L'atelier de Jean Le Gac” Authors: Jean Le Gac, Evelyne Artaud, French, Publisher: Thalia, Paris, France, 2010,
• “Jean Le Gac : das Echo und sein Maler” : Ausstellung, Installationen, Filme : 24. Oktober-30. November 1988, Authors: Jean Le Gac (Artist), Günter Metken, Gerhard Fischer, German, Publisher: Daedalus, Wien, Austria, 1988, ^[54]
• “La machinerie Le Gac” Authors: Jean Le Gac, Kristell Loquet, Jean-Luc Parant, French, Publisher: Le Poney, Illiers-Combray, France, 2008,
• “Jean Le Gac : le peintre, exposition romancée” : Paris, Musée national d'art moderne, [11 janvier-27 février 1978], Authors: Jean Le Gac, Günter Metken, Musée national d'art moderne (France), French, Publisher: Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1978, ^[55]
• “Jean Le Gac : der Maler” Authors: Jean Le Gac, Günter Metken, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus München, Neue Galerie, Aachen, Germany, German, Publisher: Edition Lebeer Hossmann, Brüssel, 1977^[56]
• “Jean Le Gac, un peintre de rêve" : ARC Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, 4 juillet-23 septembre 1984, Authors: Jean Le Gac, Suzanne Pagé, Béatrice Parent, Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, French, Publisher: Le Musée, Paris, 1984^[57]
• “Jean Le Gac : días con y sin pintura” Authors: Jean Le Gac, Palau dels Scala Valencia, Spain, Spanish, Publisher: Diputación Provincial de Valencia, Valencia, Spain, 1994^[58]
• “Jean Le Gac : de schilder van de groet = le peintre des salutations”, Authors: Jean Le Gac, Daan van Speybroeck, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, Print Book, Dutch Publisher: SUN, Nijmegen, 2002,
• “Jean Le Gac et le photographe”, Authors: Jean Le Gac, Michèle Auer, Venus Khoury-Ghata, French, Publisher: Ides et Calendes, Neuchâtel, 2001,
• “Et le peintre : tout l'oeuvre roman”, 1968–2003, Author: Jean Le Gac, French, Publisher: Galilée, Paris, France, 2004, ^[59]
• “Le Peintre de Tamaris près d'Alès, Recueil de photos et de textes”: 1973–1978, Crisnée, Belgium, French, Published by Yellow Now, 1988,
• “Introductions aux œuvres d'un artiste dans mon genre”, by Jean Le Gac, Arles, French, published by Actes sud, 1987,
• “Le peintre intercalaire” by Jean Le Gac, Paris, published by Deyrolle, French, Paris, France, 1990,
• “Je t'écris, collection, L'art en écrit by Jean Le Gac, French, published by éditions Jannink, Paris, France, 1998, ^[60]
• “Itinéraires” by Jean Le Gac, French, Published by: Éditions La Pionnière, Paris, France, 2008^[61]
• “La Salle des herbiers, musée” by Jean Le Gac, French, Published by: Éditions La Pionnière, Paris, France, 2000^[62]
• “Tour of the World” and “The Excursion” by Jean Le Gac, photographic serials published in 1976.^[63]
• “Jean Le Gac, l'effraction douce”, by author: Laurent Olivier, French, published by Éditions La Pionnière / Pérégrines, France, 2009,
• “Jean Le Gac,” by author: Catherine Francblin, French, published by Art Press Flammarion, Paris, France, 1984,
• “Jean Le Gac, le peintre blessé,” by Dimosthenis Davvetas and Bernard Marcadé, French, published by Éditions Galilée, Paris, France, 1988,
• “Narrative Art, Qualcosa di / something by Jean Le Gac” by Paolo Tonini, Italian and English languages, published by L’Arengario Studio Bibliografico, Gussago, Italy, 2021^[64]
• “Habiter la peinture : expositions, fiction avec Jean Le Gac” by Sandrine Morsillo, Publisher: Editions L'Harmattan, French, Published: December 2004,
• “Le peintre fantôme =: Der Phantom-Maler” by Jean Le Gac, French, German, Publisher: Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Published: December 1992,
• “Où sont les couleurs ?” by Jean Le Gac, French, Publisher: Seuil Jeunesse, Published: December 2001,
• Les Couleurs De L'Argent” by Helene Delprat, Aki Kuroda, Jean Le Gac, Sol LeWitt, Ouattara, Jean-Pierre Pinc, Publisher: Edition du Musée de La Poste, French, Published: December 1991,

References

• Web site: Larousse . Éditions . Jean Le Gac - LAROUSSE . 2022-08-30 . www.larousse.fr . fr.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Jean Le Gac . 2022-08-30 . Centre Pompidou . fr-FR.
2. Web site: ULAN Full Record Display (Getty Research) . 2022-08-30 . www.getty.edu.
3. Web site: The World News - Jean Le Gac .
4. News: Schjeldahl . Peter . 1974-12-08 . Let's Not Read Narrative Art Too Seriously . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-08-30 . 0362-4331.
5. News: Grundberg . Andy . 1982-02-28 . PRACTITIONERS OUTSIDE THE PHOTOGRAPHIC TRADITION . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-08-30 . 0362-4331.
6. Web site: Jean Le Gac Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire . 2022-08-30 . domaine-chaumont.fr . en.
7. Web site: On the Trail of Jean Le Gac: The Case of a Painter Who Never Paints . 2022-08-30 . www.artforum.com . en-US.
8. Web site: L'art contemporain dans la rue (2/6). Roman de gare en images à Colmar . 2022-10-16 . www.lalsace.fr . FR-fr.
9. Web site: Le Peintre prisonnier (Jean Le Gac) — atlasmuseum . 2022-10-16 . atlasmuseum.net.
10. Web site: LE GAC, Jean - Le Delarge -Le dictionnaire des arts plastiques modernes et contemporains . 2022-10-16 . www.ledelarge.fr.
11. Web site: Jean Le Gac Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire . 2022-10-16 . domaine-chaumont.fr . en.
12. Web site: Larousse . Éditions . Jean Le Gac - LAROUSSE . 2022-10-16 . www.larousse.fr . fr.
13. Web site: Le Journal de L'art Contemporain en Bourgogne, Hiver 1999-2000, "Jean Le Gac, Le Retour du Peintre" .
14. Web site: "Imitations of Jean Le Gac" at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford . 2022-08-30 . primo.getty.edu . en.
15. Web site: Le Peintre, Exposition Romancée, Jean Le Gac . 2022-08-30 . Centre Pompidou . fr-FR.
16. Web site: Jean Le Gac : Le peintre de rêve . 2022-08-30 . www.worldcat.org.
17. Web site: Friart – Jean le Gac et les peintres amateurs de Fribourg . 2022-08-30 . Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg . fr.
18. Web site: datos.bne.es . 2022-08-30 . datos.bne.es . es.
19. Web site: Debailleux . Henri-François . A Vence, le cas Le Gac . 2022-08-30 . Libération . fr.
20. Web site: ArtFacts . Jean Le Gac - Villa Tamaris Pacha Exhibition . 2022-08-30 . ArtFacts . en.
21. Web site: 2013-04-12 . Jean Le Gac - Magazine : Art actuel, Art contemporain . 2022-08-30 . archive.ph . 2013-04-12 . https://archive.today/20130412230658/http://www.artpointfrance.info/article-6200677.html . dead .
22. Web site: 2009-07-01 . Jean Le Gac, artiste tisseur . 2022-08-30 . artpress . fr-FR.
23. Web site: Exposition Jean Le Gac au Pavillon Carré de Baudoin .
24. Web site: Jean Le Gac Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire . 2022-08-30 . domaine-chaumont.fr . en.
25. News: 2022-06-24 . Arts : Jean Le Gac, la peinture à lire . fr . Le Monde.fr . 2022-08-30.
26. Web site: Ben Vautier, Christian Boltanski, Jean Le Gac, John C. Fernie . 2022-08-30 . KUNSTMUSEUM LUZERN . de-DE.
27. Web site: Alan Moore on Jean Le Gac . 2022-08-30 . www.artforum.com . April 1974 . en-US.
28. Web site: Jean Le Gac. 2 illustrated exhibition announcements cards, John Gibson Gallery, New York . 2022-08-30 . J.N. Herlin, Inc. . en-US.
29. News: Kramer . Hilton . 1982-02-12 . 16 GALLERIES SHOW NEW ART FROM FRANCE . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-08-30 . 0362-4331.
30. Web site: Eremit? Forscher? Sozialarbeiter? – Kunstverein in Hamburg . 2022-08-30 . www.kunstverein.de.
31. Web site: An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture MoMA . 2022-08-30 . The Museum of Modern Art . en.
32. Web site: 1987-08-14 . ART REVIEW : MIXED SHOW AT THE POMPIDOU CENTER . 2022-08-30 . Los Angeles Times .
33. Web site: More than One Photography: Works since 1980 from the Collection MoMA . 2022-08-30 . The Museum of Modern Art . en.
34. Web site: Adding It Up: Print Acquisitions 1970–1995 MoMA . 2022-08-30 . The Museum of Modern Art . en.
35. Web site: What does the jellyfish want? - Museum Ludwig, Köln (31.3.-15.7.07) - Koeln . 2022-08-30 . art-in.de . De-de.
36. Web site: ArtFacts . Don Quijote Exhibition . 2022-08-30 . ArtFacts . en.
37. Web site: Is this how men live? The... Exhibitions MutualArt . 2022-08-30 . www.fondation-maeght.com . en.
38. Web site: EXHIBITION. Vicent Madramany Collection . 2022-08-30 . WDC2022 . en-US.
39. Web site: Double I Exhibitions MutualArt . 2022-08-30 . mamc.saint-etienne.fr . en.
40. Web site: Recherche . 2022-08-30 . Centre Pompidou . fr-FR.
41. Web site: Jean Le Gac MoMA . 2022-08-30 . The Museum of Modern Art . en.
42. Web site: Buscador - General MACBA Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona . 2022-08-30 . www.macba.cat . en.
43. Web site: MAMCO Genève - Collection - Catalogue - Jean Le Gac, La Grande Sieste de Bages, 1984 . 2022-08-30 . www.mamco.ch.
44. Web site: Online collection . 2022-08-30 . MAMAC de Nice . en-GB.
45. Web site: Ohne Titel . 2022-08-30 . www.mumok.at . en.
46. Web site: Artworks . 2022-08-30 . Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen . en.
47. Web site: Jean Le Gac People The MFAH Collections . 2022-08-30 . emuseum.mfah.org . en.
48. Web site: L'Armoire à glace et le peintre . 2022-08-30 . Van Abbe Museum . en.
49. Web site: Worldsforus . 2016-09-04 . A Glimpse of Urban Paris: Street Art in the City of Lights • Worlds For Us . 2022-09-29 . Worlds For Us . en-US.
50. Web site: L'art contemporain dans la rue (2/6). Roman de gare en images à Colmar . 2022-08-30 . www.lalsace.fr . FR-fr.
51. Web site: Le Peintre prisonnier (Jean Le Gac) — atlasmuseum . 2022-08-30 . atlasmuseum.net.
52. Web site: Imitation of Jean Le Gac translated by Vivien Gordon. Oxford : Museum of Modern Art, 1973 . 2022-09-18 . primo.getty.edu . en.
53. Book: Jean le Gac, le décor, le roman d'aventures, les vues, le peintre, les images bavardes, les anecdotes . 47715059 .
54. Web site: Jean LeGac : das Echo und sein Maler ; Ausstellung, Installationen, Filme, 24. Oktober - 30. November 1988 - Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek . 2022-09-18 . www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de . de.
55. Web site: Jean Le Gac : le peintre, exposition romancée : Musée national d'art moderne, Paris, 1978 .
56. Web site: Jean Le Gac : Der Maler by Kunstverein, Hamburg, 1977 .
57. Web site: Jean Le Gac : "un peintre de rêve" : ARC Musée d'art moderne, Paris, 1984 .
58. Web site: Jean Le ; Días con y sin pintura València, 1994 .
59. Web site: Jean Le Gac : Et le peintre : tout l'oeuvre roman, 1968-2003 .
60. Web site: Jean Le Gac : Je t'écris - Les presses du réel . 2022-09-18 . www.lespressesdureel.com.
61. Web site: " Itinéraires " de Jean Le Gac . 2022-09-18 . La Pionnière . fr-FR.
62. Web site: " La Salle des herbiers, musée " de Jean Le Gac . 2022-09-18 . La Pionnière . fr-FR.
63. News: Jean Le Gac : Tour of the World, 1976 . 2022-09-18.
64. Tonini . Paolo . 2021-02-26 . Qualcosa di / something by JEAN LE GAC . Qualcosa di / Something by JEAN LE GAC.