Background
Martial Raysse was born on February 12, 1936 in a ceramicist family in Vallauris. His parents’ involvement in the French Resistance against the occupation of the Nazis had a profound impact on his childhood.
Martial Raysse was born on February 12, 1936 in a ceramicist family in Vallauris. His parents’ involvement in the French Resistance against the occupation of the Nazis had a profound impact on his childhood.
He began to paint and write poetry at age 12. After studying and practising athleticism at a high level, he began to accumulate rubbish odds and ends that he preserved under plexiglas.
After a brief formative stint focused on painting, he joined up with the group of Nouveaux Réalistes comprised of Y. Klein, César, Armand e Jean Tinguely despite his early captivation with pop art.
He was drawn to the industrial aesthetic and “the marvelous aspect of commonplace items, including the most unimaginative ones; he created Hygiène de la vision (1961-69), a series of works that substantiates the concepts of consumer culture through his assembly of objects made of plexiglas, mirrors, bathroom accessories, neon signs, and advertisements.” Nonetheless, Raysse’s participation in the Nouveau Realisme movement was relatively short-lived. In fact, he quickly decided to concentrate on developing a personal style and philosophy in order to give shape to an artistic vision that he could call his own. Looking to push the limits of social norms, Raysse ironically reinterpreted renowned nude paintings of the past.
The turning point of Raysse’s career came between 1970 and 1976 when a transformation and evolution of his work came about as a result of internal turmoil, the struggle to reconcile different cultures and accept radical ideological changed, and a desire to escape the constraints of a so-called “traditional” career. Internationally distinguished from 1962 with the exhibition of Raysse Beach in Amsterdam at the Stedelijk Museum, he represented France at the Venice Biennale in 1966 and 1982. After a period of tireless research of cinematographic techniques, from the 1970s on he dedicated himself again to the figurative applications of painting. He hosted private shows both in Europe and the United States. Between 1992 and 1993 the Parisian Jeu de Paume dedicated a considerable anthological exposition to him.
In 2011 Raysse's painting, Last Year in Capri (Exotic Title), sold for $6.58 million at Christie's auction, the most expensive price paid for a work by a living French artist.
Raysse acted in Jean-Pierre Prévost's 1971 film Jupiter. He then wrote and directed the 1972 film Le grand départ.
Raysse currently lives in Issigeac, France.
Quotations: “A painting is the teaching of freedom. It’s the only vindication of the artist. But what is important today is to change what surrounds us appealing to the need for human coexistence. Some believe that life is to be replicated. Others know that life can be innovative. We shouldn’t quote Rimbaud, but instead live him.”