Archiguille

Archiguille, French painter, Inventor of the Transfiguration.

Archiguille in his atelier.

Augustin François Guille, called Archiguille (born May 17, 1932 in Alès) is a French Painter.

Probably the most talented painter of his generation as announced by André Malraux (1901-1976), Archiguille has long enjoyed a prestigious following among international private collectors and art connoisseurs.

Following a childhood during the war years in the south of France, Archiguille was drawn to painting, as a means of expression of his deeper emotions and experiences. He began, when at school, to be fascinated with the letters of the alphabet, which led in turn to forays into the oriental art of calligraphy. His time spent among the well-known painters of that époque in Montmartre, their mutual trials and errors in experimenting with new mediums and techniques and his meeting with George Braque were all key factors in the development of this works.

In the year 1958-1967 Archiguille founded the school of Transfiguration – capturing of the spiritual or other worldly vision of earthly things and the relaying of that sense of the mystical to the viewer. He has moved from the pragmatic young figurative painter to the years of “sagesse” where the richness and emotional eloquence of this works can only be compared to the greatest painters of the 20th century.

Antiquity, Renaissance, Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism… Archiguille has seen it all, has tried it all, has learned from it all. From each school, he’s caught the savoir-faire and the spirit. It is from this amazing pictural culture that he has drawn the essence of his work. It is from that universal history that was issued an entirely personal creation which he termed: "Transfiguration".

“Transfiguration” because he works upon reality, relentlessly, until he reaches a result which for him is pure, unique, essential. “Transfiguration” because beyond figurative expression, he opens up new roads to dream and imagination. “Transfiguration” because it is here and here only that we look at the world, infinitely rich, infinitely vast. Each painting is a world of its own, it may have restrained tensions, sudden momentum, quiet spaces, unexpected paroxysm. One must become an accomplice, go into the privacy of a painting to fully appreciate the meaning of it, its originality, its inexhaustible variety.

Artists, writers, poets have acknowledged Archiguille’s “Great Art”. Wasn’t’it André Malraux, who in 1968 declared prophetically “Archiguille is the most gifted painter of his generation”. His art works can be found in collections of François Mitterrand, Mme Claude Pompidou, Jacqueline Kennedy, Coco Chanel, Ari Onassis, Barbara Bush, the Emperor of Japan, Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, Spain's king Juan Carlos, David Rockefeller and Barbara Streisand just to name a few.

His paintings grace some of the most prestigious museums of contemporary art in the world: Paris, New York, Chicago, Houston and Tokyo as well as the Berheim Jeune Gallery in Paris, Princeton University, Club 13 and the Parisian Tuileries. The magnanimous nature and dynamic personality of François Archiguille has been well documented by Françoise Sagan (1935-2004, French premier writer and intellectual). He grew from a little known artist from Languedoc in France into a cult figure on the Montmartre with almost a fanatical following in the art world in Europe.

• 
  Child, 1963, (100*81cm, Oil on canvas)
• 
  Nature Morte, 1958 (60*80cm, Oil on canvas)
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  Noir et blanc, 1968 (130*97cm, Acrylic on canvas)
• 
  Donald, (120*195cm, Oil on canvas)
• 
  Vase of Flowers, 1971, (100*81cm, Acrylic on canvas)
• 
  Breton Landscape, 1960, (73*92cm, Oil on canvas)
• 
  Tête de cheval, (Charcoal drawing)
• 
  Rêve de jeune fille, 1969 (130*195cm, Acrylic on canvas)

Short biography

1932 Birth of Augustin François Guille on May 17 in Alès.

1939-45 Childhood in Vendargues under German occupation. First trials with ink and drawing of letters.

1946-48 Arts and Crafts Educational Centre, Saint Jodard, Loire.

1952 Arrival in Paris. Works at the Stamp Atelier in Paris.

1953 Exhibition at the bookstore of the “Le Signe” Institute in Paris.

1956 Meeting with Georges Braque.

1957 First sales. Lyrical abstraction. Synthesis of cubism and fauvism.

1958 Course by Professor Lemagny, (Prize of Rome for painting), Fine Arts Academy.

1968 Exhibition at the National Modern Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.

1969 Exhibition in Houston, Norbert Gallery.

1973 A series of Transfigurations with mirror and laces.

1974 Production of a fresco at the St Eulalie Church in Borne.

1975 Return to Paris. “July-August” Exhibition at the Jardin des Tuileries.

1980 Arrival in Switzerland.

1988 Exhibition at the Musée Athénée with Madame Mitterand, Geneva.

1989 Trip to China. Exhibition cancelled due to the Revolution in China.

1992 Exhibition at the Musée Athénée organised by the «Musée des Beaux-Arts», with Jack Lang, Geneva.

1994 Exhibition at Le Crédit Suisse, Geneva, Switzerland.

1995 Exhibitions at Seibu, a large department store in Tokyo, Japan; Los Angeles and in Luxembourg.

1997 Exhibition at the Palace, Monte-Carlo.

1998 Atlanta, USA: Exhibition held at the French Embassy.

2000 Exhibition at the Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris.

2001 Decoration of the polyester cows of natural size.1st Prize. Geneva Exhibition at the Mohammed v. Rabat’s Theatre, Morocco.

2003 Geneva, Switzerland: Archiguille Premier Exhibition.

2004 Exhibition at the United Nations, Palais des Nations, Geneva Switzerland.

2007 Exhibition at the Palau de la Música in Valencia, 33rd America’s Cup, Spain.

2007 (December) Exhibition at the Russian Academy of Fine Arts in Moscow.

Honors and awards

2007 Archiguille was raised as knight «des Beaux-Arts» at the Russian Academy of Art in Moscow. He is the Honorary Member of the Academy.

2004 Nominated by Prince Albert of Monaco, President of «La Croix-Rouge Monégasque» to be honored during the annual Gala held in Monaco. Archiguille’s works are exhibited at the Charity Gala de la Croix-Rouge.

1991 1st European Excellence Prize for Painting, Luxembourg.

1989 Recipient of the World’s Most Elegant Man Award 1989 by «Le Best de la Haute Couture Internationale».

References

• http://www.archiguille.com
• http://www.rah.ru/archiguille
• http://www.archiguille.com/expos.html