Serge Belloni " The painter of Paris " - Saint-Eustache view in Paris circa 1960 oil on panel
Serge Belloni nicknamed The Painter of Paris, devoted his life as a painter to transcribe day after day, in all weather, the face of Paris.
This beautiful painting shows us a view with the characters of Saint-Eustache in Paris, Serge Belloni is fond of autumn, the beginning of winter, or the trees stripped of their leaves allowing him to show the architecture and the soul of beautiful Paris.
Superb oil on panel signed in lower left Serge Belloni circa 1960.
Dimensions unframed: H 21.65 In. - W 26.37 In.
Dimensions framed: H 29.52 In. - W 34.25 In.
In fine original condition, we offer this painting in its original condition, served by its original wood frame.
Biography:
Serge Belloni, known as The Painter of Paris, is the son of the upholsterer Luigi Belloni and Elvira Belloni née Molinari. He moved to Paris in 1933 where he studied painting at the Ecole supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. He exhibited his paintings from 1946.
First prize of painting in Versailles (1949), Marie Bashkirtseff prize (1952), Silver Medal of the City of Paris, Vermeil Medal of the City of Paris (1980).
Serge Belloni was born in Piacenza, Italy, on February 25, 1925. As a child, he lived in Paris, in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, where his parents had lived for many years. His father, a craftsman, worked as an upholsterer-decorator.
Serge Belloni had to work part-time to pay for his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts; these were difficult years that left their mark. At that time, he became friends with Lucien Moretti and Gérard Blondel.
At a very young age, Serge Belloni showed his work in exhibitions, following a solitary path from the beginning, far from genre groups.
He organized his first exhibition in Paris at the age of 21; from then on he lived solely, and without compromise, from his painting, carrying, as he likes to say, his cross every day. Whatever the weather, he painted "on the spot". Numerous trips to Holland allowed him to study, on the spot, the secrets of the Flemish masters. He worked on the rediscovery of ancient techniques that he would never stop perfecting. He uses the egg painting technique.
Serge Belloni works every day, in all seasons, without ever stopping, as if life was escaping him at every moment. His paintings are in the most important collections: Paris, Milan, Moscow, and New York ...
Serge Belloni died in Menton on October 28, 2005.
Museums:
Carnavalet Museum in Paris where several of these works are kept.
Museum CA' Pesaro in Venice.
Bernard de Montgolfier
Inspector General of Museums of the City of Paris – Chief Curator of the Carnavalet Museum
At each period of its history, since the Renaissance, Paris has found painters capable of scrutinizing its permanent or fleeting face and transmitting it to posterity. As can be verified at Carnavalet, the 17th-century city lives for us thanks to Abraham de Verwer and other urban landscape specialists whose names are not known to us. The Paris of Louis XV and Louis XVI has been faithfully represented by Grevenbroeck, Raguenet, PA de Machy, and Hubert Robert. In the time of romanticism, the spectacle of the capital inspired Bouhot, Canella, and many little masters, but also Corot and Georges Michel. In the second half of the 19th century, Paris had certain impressionists as interpreters, alongside Lépine, Jongkind, and observers like Jean Béraud and Luigi Loir. closer to us, the tradition was continued by Bonnard, Marquet, and Utrillo. It would be a pity if, nowadays, the dictatorship of non-figurative art and the convenient recourse to photography – whatever the interest of its contribution – had the effect of dissuading good painters from taking Paris as a model. The Paris of the second half of the 20th century must also have its interpreters because the face of the city remains an inexhaustible theme and is subject to many variations depending on the personality of the artists. To the question: why still paint Paris? that some may ask, the work of Serge Belloni provides a courageous and convincing answer. the dictatorship of non-figurative art and the convenient recourse to photography – whatever the interest of its contribution – had the effect of dissuading good painters from taking Paris as a model. The Paris of the second half of the 20th century must also have its interpreters because the face of the city remains an inexhaustible theme and is subject to many variations depending on the personality of the artists. To the question: why still paint Paris? that some may ask, the work of Serge Belloni provides a courageous and convincing answer. the dictatorship of non-figurative art and the convenient recourse to photography – whatever the interest of its contribution – had the effect of dissuading good painters from taking Paris as a model. The Paris of the second half of the 20th century must also have its interpreters because the face of the city remains an inexhaustible theme and is subject to many variations depending on the personality of the artists. To the question: why still paint Paris? that some may ask, the work of Serge Belloni provides a courageous and convincing answer. why still paint Paris? that some may ask, the work of Serge Belloni provides a courageous and convincing answer. why still paint Paris? that some may ask, the work of Serge Belloni provides a courageous and convincing answer.
Born in Italy, Serge Belloni likes to plant his easel along the canals and in front of the pink facades of Venice, whose timeless poetry he knows how to translate. He also created a genre, that of paintings of flowers on a gold background. But it is obviously from Paris, where he settled, that he most readily draws his inspiration. While unashamedly following the age-old tradition of the urban landscape, Serge Belloni rejuvenates it through the personal sensitivity of his gaze, an attentive gaze in which a great deal of love can be guessed. Many places in Paris have seen him at work. From Belleville and Montmartre, from their old walls and their rugged streets, he captured the discreet and somewhat melancholy poetry. The Saint-Denis gate, the Bagatelle rose garden, and such an old bistro in the center are among the various subjects that have tempted his curiosity. But he does not hide his predilection for the landscape which has always been the glory of Paris: that of the Seine with its harmonious curve, its islands, and its banks, with its bridges and its quays, with the monuments which mark out its course since Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower. This landscape has long been dear to painters, here it is again in its fullness and grace, Serge Belloni having in turn discovered the soul of the city.
It happens that spring, summer, or autumn adorn the subjects chosen by the artist with their colors. But it is winter which, for Serge Belloni, is the real season in Paris. Winter, because it strips the trees, reduces them to the fine network of their branches, and thus makes it possible to better grasp the subtle harmony of the sky, the water, and the stones. Winter, because it gives light its most captivating variations and colors its most precious nuances. For Serge Belloni, the cold, the clouds, the rain, and the snow are friends, and he puts no gloomy intention into this attachment. It was winter that gave him the opportunity to bring into play all the resources of his trade as a painter, a beautiful, solid, and thoughtful trade, in which one discovered no concessions to the whims of fashion.
A sensitive as well as a faithful interpreter of the Parisian landscape, Serge Belloni has his rightful place in this museum dedicated to the Paris of all times. He is present there in the transitory form of this exhibition which he himself conceived, quite rightly, as a “tribute to Paris”. It will stay there permanently thanks to paintings that are now part of its collections: a first one acquired by the City in 1963; another offered by Mr. Jean Griot, and two that the establishment owes to the generosity of their author. Allow me to thank Serge Belloni for this donation and for the help he kindly provided for the implementation of a project in keeping with the Parisian vocation of Carnavalet. Carnavalet Museum: Homage to Paris February 11 - April 13, 1986.
Musée Carnavalet : Hommage à Paris 11 février – 13 avril 1986.
