Pierre Courthion
Pierre Courthion (January 14, 1902 - 1988)[1] was a Swiss art critic and historian known for his work on American and French art.[2]
Biography[edit]
Courthion's father, Louis, worked as an editor on the newspaper Journal de Gèneve.[1] After completing secondary school in Schwyz,[1] Pierre Courthion was educated at the University of Geneva and was awarded a scholarship to study painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.[2] During his studies, he befriended artists Kurt Seligmann and Alberto Giacometti.[1] He also married a fellow Swiss named Pierrette, with whom he had a daughter, Sabine.[1] At the Louvre, he did his doctorate on the painter Jean-Étienne Liotard.[2]
During World War II, Courthion and his family fled from France back to Switzerland, where he participated in anti-Nazi resistance. In 1950, he was given French citizenship. He died in 1988.[1]
Work[edit]
From 1933 to 1939, Courthion was the director of the Swiss Foundation of the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris, before fleeing the Nazi invasion of France.[1]
In 1941, Courthion interviewed Henri Matisse for a book that the elderly artist was to illustrate himself. However, on reading the proofs and sharing them with friends, Matisse considered Courthion's writing convoluted and mesquin ("small-minded").[3] Matisse then halted the book's publication, just a few weeks before it was due to come out.[3][4] The "lost" interview was not published until 2013.[4]
In 1960, Courthion served on the Guggenheim Prize jury.[1]
In 2004, more than 15 years after his death, his autobiography, D'une palette à l'autre: mémoires d'un critique d'art (From One Palette to Another: Memoirs of an Art Critic) was posthumously published.[1]
His papers are held at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, California.[2]
Publications[edit]
- Panorama de la peinture française contemporaine
- D'une palette à l'autre : Mémoires d'un critique d'art
- La Peinture flamande : de Van Eyck à Bruegel
- Bonnard : peintre du merveilleux
- Soutine : peintre du déchirant
- Les Impressionnistes
- Le Visage de Matisse
- La Vie de Delacroix
- Delacroix : journal et correspondance
- Paris : de sa naissance à nos jours
- D'une palette à l'autre: mémoires d'un critique d'art, autobiography, 2004
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Cubicciotti, Amy. "Pierre Courthion Biography" (PDF). Getty Research Institute. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Pierre Courthion papers". Getty Research Institute. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ a b Cone, Michele (14 June 2013). "Killed by Matisse in 1941, Courthion's Interviews Are Resurrected". artinamericamagazine.com. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ a b "Chatting With Henri Matisse (HB)". National Gallery Shop. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
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