Jean-Pierre Serrier

1934-1989

Jean-Pierre Serrier was born in "Montparnasse", a Parisian neighborhood frequented by artists.

His parents are from Eastern France, Lorraine.

His mother, Solange, is a native of Blénod Toul, a village located about thirty kilometers west of Nancy, his father, Louis, is a native of Pagny sur Meuse, a nearby village.

Louis Serrier comes from a family of lock keepers. But, his certificate of studies in his pocket, he started as a courier in a cement factory, quickly climbed the ladder and headed the Human Resources headquarters in Paris where he moved with his wife Solange.

Jean-Pierre was born in 1934 and his brother François in 1942.

Quickly, the Serrier left Paris to settle in a bourgeois house in the Paris region, in Gagny: Jean-Pierre SERRIER with his mother in June 1941.

Jean-Pierre Serrier regularly stayed in Lorraine, with his maternal grandmother or aunt

To finance an attic he shared in the 16th arrondissement with Jean-Baptiste Valadié, a friend of the 'Arts A', he moved to Place du Tertre. He drew on plasterboard, but his main source of income is the decoration of windows for the holiday season.

Robert Terrier's article reflected the public's enthusiasm:

The most unusual French painter of the moment ... He searched, he found, now he charges! ... In Paris he is the person we talk about in salons ... For some (critics) - and we are part of it - Serrier is simply a great painter in his inspiration and virtuoso in its realization. A visionary who frees us to see fantastic images.

In 1976, he was elected jury member of the Salon d'Automne in Paris,

In 1977 a book is dedicated to his painting: "Surealism and the absurb"  was published,

In 1979, he participated in a major exhibition of European painters at "The Kurt Schon, Ltd. Gallery" in New Orleans.

In 1984, the Kurt Schon, Ltd. Gallery organized a major summer exhibition devoted to his painting.

In 1986 a retrospective is organized in New York.

By military obligation, he left to "go to school" in Germany in September 1955. He returned at the end of the year, he avoided Indochina but left for Morocco then Algeria.

When they discovered his training, he became responsible for establishing strategic maps. But, despite himself, he is often on the Front and participates in many operations.

At the end of 1957, he returned to Paris. Pierre Seghers contacted him to illustrate a collection of Poems, "Songs and Complaints". He commissioned some thirty illustrations to be published in 1959. Thanks to Pierre Seghers, he met many poets.

All encourage him to persevere in painting.

At the same time, he met Queen Ausset in Paris, who invited him to New York. She was organizing a Norval Gallery a exhibition on 57th Street. This exhibition brought together works by Kisling, Boudin, Whistler, ... Serrier, "masters of yesterday, today and tomorrow". He left for New York in November 1961.

He took advantage of his trip to meet the Garbish Chrysler family in New York.

He returned to Paris in January 1962.

In 1962, the City of Paris bought a painting of his , "Un Dimanche".

At this time, his paintings were influenced by the Commedia del Arte.

In 1965, he participated in an international exhibition in London, Galerie Frost and Reed. Thanks to this exhibition, he took a new step in the international art market.

At Montmartre, it is successively discovered by two great art dealers: Roger FERRERO who owns a famous gallery in Geneva, Switzerland.Kurt E. SCHON who owned a gallery in New Orleans in the United States.

He graduated from the School of Applied Arts in 1955, he exhibited his first "works" in a gallery of Saint-Paul de Vence on the Côte d'Azur.

His first Parisian exhibitions took place in 1959, rue de Seine, then in Montmartre at the "Bussière-Jannel" gallery, rue du Chevalier de la Barre. The same year, he exhibited in Juan les Pins on the Côte d'Azur.

From 1961, he exhibited each year at the Salon des Artistes Français.

Mr. Eric-Victor de Perre, who owns a Gallery at the Paul Bert Market in Paris, introduced him to Colonel Garbish and his wife, Mrs. Garbish Chrysler. Famous collectors. They ordered from  him a series of portraits.

In autumn 1968, a first personal exhibition was organized at the Ferrero Gallery in Geneva. This exhibition was a great success, the critics were excellent.

His Art evolved and became more surrealistic. This was the time of his first rounds of Babel. His main theme of inspiration became the Man facing his problems. His characters lost their identity and

become all interchangeable. His landscape canvases became more black and obsessive.

In 1965, he discovered Martel, a small town in the South West with his friend Jean-Baptiste Valadié, also a graduate of Applied Art.

They decided to acquire together a house in the center of the City which they transformed it into Gallery named "The Unicorn".

The inauguration took place in 1967 and gave rise to many articles in the Local Press. On this occasion he met many notables in the region.
 
        

The same year, Roger Ferrero, asked him to accompany the painter Gen Paul, for a collective exhibition in Geneva. Gen Paul's reputation in Montmartre is not excellent. Anarchist, Alcoholic, former friend of Celine but also Marcel Aymé, Arletty, Michel Simon, we could mention many other celebrities. Jean-Pierre Serrier is very anxious about the idea of ??calling him! But in reality, everything will be fine and the two painters will become very good friends.

Arnold Kohler, art critic known for the quality of his judgment considers it as "The inventor of a worrying humanity with closed

eyes, Serrier paints with the meticulousness of the primitives and often their candor"

In 1972 and 1973, he exhibited "To Painters Witnesses Of Their Time", with the main contemporary artists.

In December 1972, he was represented at an exhibition on fantastic art in Basel, Switzerland. He was the only French in the company of painters from the Vienna School such as Dr. Fuch, Krejear, and Korab.

In autumn 1972, he participated in the Salon d'Automne in Paris. His painting was chosen by a delegation of the Polish government to participate in an exhibition at "Zachetta Palace" in Warsaw

To participate, he was exceptionally and immediately named Associate of the Salon d'Automne.

In April 1973, he was invited to Warsaw for an official visit and the opening of the exhibition. Great French painters such as Gauguin, Utrillo, Cézanne and Buffet are on display.

On his return, Kurt E. Schon from New Orleans, asked him to participate in a major exhibition tour in the United States.

His paintings were published in famous magazines (Times, Newsweek etc.) The United States Banker "dedicates his cover to him in 1975.