PRINTCatalogue Note:
LA CHAMBRE BLEUE
JEAN CARZOU
Born Karnik Zouloumian, Armenian-French artist Jean Carzou created countless masterpieces throughout his long artistic career. Other than oil paintings, he also worked in illustration design and stage art. He created illustrations for many great 20th century writers, including illustrations for various Hemingway and Albert Camus’s classic novels.
Carzou was born in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, to an Armenian family. He created the stage name Carzou from the first syllables of his given name and surname. Even though he changed his name, his heart never strayed from Armenian traditions, nor did he forget his people’s struggles. He was educated in Cairo, before going to Paris in 1924 to study architecture. After graduating, he started work as a theater decorator, but soon dedicated himself to painting. From 1939 onwards, he held over 100 solo exhibitions across Paris, France, and the rest of the world. In 1976, Carzou’s work was featured on France’s stamps, the first contemporary artist to receive such honor. In 1977, he was elected a member of the Institut de France, Académie des beaux-arts.
Early in his career, Carzou attempted geometric abstraction and surrealism, but soon gave up and developed his own unique artistic language. Inspired by Freud, he used symbolic elements to recreate dreams. He also published satirical political cartoons in the newspaper. Since the 1950s, he had achieved success in both stage design and painting. In 1959, Carzou held his first US solo exh ibition in New York. In the 1960s, he created print illustrations for the works of many famous writers. He also completed a number of excellent watercolors, lithographs, engravings, and other works during this period. Carzou was a master with different mediums. Other than oil painting and works on paper, he also used materials such as glass, terra cotta, and crayons. When he was in his eighties, he created the stunning masterpiece “Apocalypse of Saint Joan,” showing the cruelty of war with the story of the famous French heroine. The painting is now kept in the Chapel at Manosque in Vaucluse, France.
“La Chambre bleue” was created in 1979, with Carzou’s classic style. Blue and dark brown cut through the image, creating a melancholy tone. The regular lines on the wall, like lines on graph paper for stage design, add depth to the image. The figur e in the foreground is depicted with Carzou’s classic technique of overlaying lines, so that the silhouette appears messy, when it is actually made up of precise layers of lines. The interchanging use of yellow and blue is especially striking, and the red on the figure’s head and neck lead the viewer to speculate about his backstory, while the humanoid shape walking towards the small door in the center of the image adds a sense of mystery. Years of experience in stage art and design have seeped into Carzou’s artistic language, so that even his oil paintings have a strong hand-drawn effect. Like the works of the surrealist master Dali, whom Carzou greatly admired, it is hard to find a tangible reflection of the real world in Carzou’s paintings, but they are filled with mysterious imagination.
JEAN CARZOU
Born Karnik Zouloumian, Armenian-French artist Jean Carzou created countless masterpieces throughout his long artistic career. Other than oil paintings, he also worked in illustration design and stage art. He created illustrations for many great 20th century writers, including illustrations for various Hemingway and Albert Camus’s classic novels.
Carzou was born in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, to an Armenian family. He created the stage name Carzou from the first syllables of his given name and surname. Even though he changed his name, his heart never strayed from Armenian traditions, nor did he forget his people’s struggles. He was educated in Cairo, before going to Paris in 1924 to study architecture. After graduating, he started work as a theater decorator, but soon dedicated himself to painting. From 1939 onwards, he held over 100 solo exhibitions across Paris, France, and the rest of the world. In 1976, Carzou’s work was featured on France’s stamps, the first contemporary artist to receive such honor. In 1977, he was elected a member of the Institut de France, Académie des beaux-arts.
Early in his career, Carzou attempted geometric abstraction and surrealism, but soon gave up and developed his own unique artistic language. Inspired by Freud, he used symbolic elements to recreate dreams. He also published satirical political cartoons in the newspaper. Since the 1950s, he had achieved success in both stage design and painting. In 1959, Carzou held his first US solo exh ibition in New York. In the 1960s, he created print illustrations for the works of many famous writers. He also completed a number of excellent watercolors, lithographs, engravings, and other works during this period. Carzou was a master with different mediums. Other than oil painting and works on paper, he also used materials such as glass, terra cotta, and crayons. When he was in his eighties, he created the stunning masterpiece “Apocalypse of Saint Joan,” showing the cruelty of war with the story of the famous French heroine. The painting is now kept in the Chapel at Manosque in Vaucluse, France.
“La Chambre bleue” was created in 1979, with Carzou’s classic style. Blue and dark brown cut through the image, creating a melancholy tone. The regular lines on the wall, like lines on graph paper for stage design, add depth to the image. The figur e in the foreground is depicted with Carzou’s classic technique of overlaying lines, so that the silhouette appears messy, when it is actually made up of precise layers of lines. The interchanging use of yellow and blue is especially striking, and the red on the figure’s head and neck lead the viewer to speculate about his backstory, while the humanoid shape walking towards the small door in the center of the image adds a sense of mystery. Years of experience in stage art and design have seeped into Carzou’s artistic language, so that even his oil paintings have a strong hand-drawn effect. Like the works of the surrealist master Dali, whom Carzou greatly admired, it is hard to find a tangible reflection of the real world in Carzou’s paintings, but they are filled with mysterious imagination.