PIERRE JEAN DE MARIA 1896/1984

OIL ON CANVAS 65X81CM CIRCA60 TITLED ON THE BACK "JEUX".
In 1964, IRIS CLER's discovery of Pierre De Maria gave a new impetus to his career. He was then 68 years old. This Greek gallery owner specialized in contemporary art, and her spectacular, high-profile exhibitions were instrumental in the emergence of the New Realism. She was enthusiastic about Pierre De Maria's art. "A visit to his studio turned love at first sight into certainty. Pierre De Maria uses the technique of the Ancients to express the Future. Following this meeting, an intense collaboration began, enabling the painter to benefit from the gallery owner's European and international network. In 1966, Connaissance des Arts (n°70) devoted a study to him: "En gros plan ce mois : Pierre De Maria". This was followed in 1967 by an article in International Art. In 1969, the year of his 73rd birthday, a first retrospective of his work was organized by the city of Nice at the Galerie des Ponchettes. Some sixty paintings were exhibited. Pierre De Maria's meeting with artist Hélène Bottet - at the age of 76 - marked a new turning point in his art: violence gave way to humor. Machines no longer frightened him, he mocked them. But they are still at the heart of his painting, even though the mechanical art of the 1920s had long since been abandoned by its initiators.
In 1974, Jean Selz devoted a chapter to him: "Des machines et des dunes" in his book Le dire et le faire. That same year, he won the Prix du Président de la République at the Salon International d'Art de Toulon for La Tête éclatée. In 1980, Jean-Roger Soubiran organized a new retrospective of his work at the Centre méditerranéen d'Art Contemporain in Marseille. Over one hundred paintings were brought together. This was his last solo exhibition. Pierre De Maria is 84 years old. His life had been a poetic adventure: he had successively taken on the roles of student engineer, architect, reporter, writer, dandy and Dom Juan. His most authentic commitment was to the plastic arts, making his art the ideal of a lifetime, freeing it from all doctrine. This secretive, brilliant and cultured man died of old age in 1984.

Ref: KRPYR35MIR