421 - Jean RUSTIN (1928–2013)

Jean RUSTIN (1928–2013) "The Little Gray Room" Oil on canvas Signed lower right Countersigned, titled, and dated “1975–1982” on the back of the canvas; titled and dated on the canvas flap stapled to the back 55 x 46 cm Framed (Stains, stretched canvas) We thank the Jean Rustin Foundation for confirming the authenticity of this work. A certificate of authenticity from the Jean Rustin Foundation may be issued upon the buyer’s request. Please contact the Jean Rustin Foundation for the conditions governing the issuance of the certificate. The resale royalty is the responsibility of the buyer. The condition report is available upon request at the following email address: contact@neo-encheres.com PROVENANCE French private collection, acquired during the Jean Rustin exhibition at the Maison des Arts in Créteil in 1982. Description: Born in Montigny-lès-Metz in 1928, Jean Rustin studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in Nicolas Untersteller’s studio. In the 1950s and 1960s, he initially practiced non-figurative painting close to lyrical abstraction, exhibited at the La Roue gallery. The exhibition dedicated to him by the ARC at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1971 marked a turning point: he turned toward uncompromising figurative art. From then on, Rustin depicted nude bodies in empty, enclosed rooms rendered in shades of gray, inspired in part by the world of hospitals and psychiatric institutions. Aging, loneliness, and fragility became his themes, running counter to the trends of his time. A contemporary of Bernard Buffet and Paul Rebeyrolle, he shared with Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud a focus on the tormented body. Represented by the Isy Brachot and later the Marnix Neerman galleries, he saw a foundation dedicated to his work established in Antwerp in the early 1990s. The Maison des arts André Malraux in Créteil had dedicated an exhibition to him in 1982.