Bernard Cathelin

(1919-2004)

Bernard Cathelin was born in Paris in 1919. After the interruption of the war, he resumed his studies at the École nationale supérieure des Arts décoratifs, where between 1945 and 1948 he studied in the studio of Maurice Brianchon, a colorist painter in the tradition of Henri Matisse. Cathelin demonstrates a strong sensitivity to color and light, which he translates with great accuracy.

His many travels – to Latin America, and especially Mexico, Japan, Italy and Spain, to name but a few – are an essential source of inspiration, as are the landscapes of the Drôme region, the birthplace of his maternal origins, with its generous, sun-drenched nature, from which he draws his colorful chords.

Cathelin spends half the year at his family home, Les Rebattières, in Montéléger, Drôme. In his studio, he works out the composition of his canvases from sketches and notes. The artist does not paint from the motif. During the other half of the year, in his Paris studio, he simplifies his compositions and works the material. For Cathelin, color is created by superimposing different shades of the same color. He applies a layer, scrapes off the excess to reveal the tone underneath, lets it dry and then starts again. This repeated operation gives his color a rich depth and texture. He uses watercolor as a preparatory stage for his compositions.

Alongside his work as a painter, Cathelin practiced lithography in Fernand Mourlot’s famous studio. Painting and lithography are intimately linked in his research. They are mutually nourishing. As in painting, he uses superimposed layers of inks of different tonalities for the same color. As a painter, lithography helps him to simplify color and composition. Cathelin also produced large-format lithographs at the invitation of Japanese lithographer Mori, whose presses were up to 235 cm (while Mourlot’s were no larger than 120 cm).

In both painting and lithography, Cathelin seeks to express the essential. He doesn’t bother with details or anecdotes. Frontality is another aspect of his aesthetic. Cathelin seeks the frontal, the mural. Over time, his language becomes simpler.

In the 1980s, he broadened his activity to include tapestry. His 1973 meeting with the protagonists of Atelier 3 in Paris, through the intermediary of painter André Brasilier, marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration. Several of Cathelin’s paintings were translated into tapestries.

Cathelin’s work has conquered an international audience. His work was shown at the David B. Findlay gallery in New York from 1958 to 1983, and in France at the Marcel Guiot gallery on rue La Boétie in Paris from 1961 to 1979. In Japan, the Yoshii Gallery in Tokyo exhibited his work from 1967 until at least 1994.