Jean Messagier

Messagier is a famous French painter and sculptor, born in Paris in 1920. He graduated from the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and held his first solo exhibition while still at school. His work was influenced by Picasso, André Masson and Paul Klee, among others. Later, after moving away from Expressionism and Cubism, he began to associate himself with Lyrical Abstraction and Trompe l’oeil.

From 1962 onwards, he participated frequently in exhibitions and salons in France and abroad, and took part in major international events as a representative of new trends in French painting. Messagier was awarded the Commander of the French Order of Literature and Arts, Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour, and the Order of Merit. His paintings transcend abstraction and figuration and are steeped in life and nature. Messagier died in 1999 and his works are in countless museum collections in France.