Manessier Alfred
Alfred Manessier was a French artist who was born in 1911 in Saint-Ouen, France and who died in 1993 in Orléans, France. He was a non-figurative French painter, stained glass artist and tapestry designer, who was part of the New Paris School. He had enrolled in architecture in 1929, but in 1935 decided to switch to fine arts and study at the Ranson Academy. However, Manessier disliked the school and spent his free time copying paintings by old masters such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens and Tintoretto in the Louvre. By the beginning of World War II, his paintings tended more towards Cubism and Surrealism. Manessier, along with fifty other painters, was chosen to represent the avant-garde at the 1937 Paris International Exhibition in Transport Centers by painting a mural. After marrying the painter Therese Simmonet in 1938 and joining the army before World War II, Manessier was chosen to exhibit his work at the '20 Young Painters' exhibition at Galerie Braun. In 1943 Manessier paid a 3-day visit to the Trappist monastery in Orne. He was deeply moved by the monks and their way of life, their bond with nature and their spiritual being. He described them as pure and regarded them as inherently opposed to 20th century man. His period of abstract painting would begin soon after. In his post-war period, Manessier created Lyrical Abstract works and showed an interest in Art Informel. His works contain religious meanings through their titles, symbols and abstract images. (wikipedia)