Background
Duvillier was born in Oyonnax, Rhone-Alpes, France, on April 3, 1919.
14 Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris, France
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts
Duvillier was born in Oyonnax, Rhone-Alpes, France, on April 3, 1919.
Although René Duvillier studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris since 1935 under the guidance of Gustave Moreau, nevertheless, he asserted that he was mostly a self-taught painter.
Starting from 1939 Duvillier spent five years as German war prisoner. He was deported to Ukraine and Poland because of several attempts to escape and acts of resistance. When the war ended in 1945 he organized his first exhibition in Paris. He later worked with Charles Estienne and met such painters as Degottex, Hartung, Lapicque, Poliakoff.
During 1954-1955 René Duvillier was invited to Brittany, France, to discover the sea. Duvillier painted a series of polychrome canvases (black, purple, blue) as well as the series called "Chevaux de mer". André Breton exhibited him and Benjamin Péret in 1955 at the Galerie L'Etoile d'Ishtar. In 1957-1958 he presented his series of monochromes.
In 1966 he had a chance to work with a group of scientists from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). During this time Duvillier discovered an astonishing similarity between some of his works and photographs of physical and cosmic phenomena. In 1969 his works were exhibited at the Palais des Congrès, Vienna, "De l'Homme au Cosmos", and Maxigalerie Roger et Gallet, Paris, "Approche des Planètes". After 1986 René Duvillier devoted himself only to painting. In 1988 a retrospective, organized by Alin Avila at the Maison des arts et de la culture de Créteil, was held. His other important exhibitions included: in 1997 "Un combat pour l'art moderne" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Lyon; in 2006 "Corps à corps" at the Margaron Gallery, Paris; in 2008 "Vous êtes le feu dans l'eau" at the Margaron Gallery at the Librairie Nice, Nice.
Untitled
Vent
Cronos 29
Rheia la titanide
Cers I
Jouissance de l'espace
Aphrodite, Jouissance de l'espace
Vision expressive
Le vent no 11
Alcyonée
Vent
Sea
Les 3 mondes
Le Libertaire
Monstre-mer
Serpent de mer
La Tramontane
Cronos 8
Anubis
Cycle aérien
Untitled
Dragonne célibataire mariée
Aphrodite
Sea Devils
Ici-Ailleurs
Tourbillon No. 3
Cronos 12
Cronos 31
Origine du monde revisitee
Serpent de mer
Chevaux de mer
Jouissance de l'Espace n. 11
Traverses
Aphrodite
Serpent de mer
Serpent de mer
Javelots et la mer, voyage intérieur
Le jeu du sterne et de la mer
Mizar
Le Regard-gouffre
Cronos 35
Dragon rouge
Quotations:
"I found the movement and the gesture there. Everything was moving, the waves, the shore, the sky, the birds. I was especially struck by the spectacle of the Breton horses, manes flowing in the wind, springing out of the foam. I also found the ancient Greek myth of the birth of the sea."
"I am emotional and passionate, I'm not looking for simplification, or a synthesis ; I am moving on all fronts, I have to keep my totality."
René Duvillier was the man of the myth and vertigo, a generous, rigorous and instinctive humanist.
René Duvillier was married to Mimi Duvillier.