Jacques Villeglé, Souvenirs d'un Nouveau Réaliste

Founded on October 27, 1960, in Yves Klein’s house, New Realism counts in its rank art critic Pierre Restany as well as artists like Arman, César, Christo, Gérard Deschamps, François Dufrêne, Raymond Hains, Yves Klein, Martial Raysse, Mimmo Rotella, Daniel Spoerri, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Jean Tinguely and Jacques Villeglé. For the Breton artist, Jacques Villeglé, souvenirs d’un Nouveau Réaliste is an unprecedented project for which he shared his memories and impressions for the first time with Marion Chanson in a correspondence spanning over 4 years (from 2014 to 2017). In the course of their exchange, the artist and the historian discussed the unique personality of each member of the group, major events of the movement and collaborations between artists from New Realism. The artist gives us an honest and straightforward insight into this period of artistic renewal with wonderful black and white illustrations by German photographer Harry Shunk.

Born in Quimper in 1926, Jacques Villeglé is mainly known for his lacerated posters collected in the streets of Paris over several decades. He was a member of the New Realism movement.