Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
, Viallat grew up in
Aubais
Aubais () is a Communes of France, commune in the Gard Departments of France, department in southern France.
The little town is in an about 20 km distance from Nîmes and Aigues-Mortes. The recreation area of La Grande-Motte is reachable a ...
, a French village with a strong bull-rearing tradition. In 1955, he joined the École des Beaux-Arts (Fine Arts School) in
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
, where he met André-Pierre Arnal, Vincent Bioulès, Daniel Dezeuze, Toni Grand, François Rouan, and Henriette Pous, whom he married in 1962.
After doing his military service in Algeria from 1958 to 1961, he joined the
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine
The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...
(the National Fine Arts School) of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, where he met fellow students Joël Kermarrec, Pierre Buraglio, and Michel Parmentier. He discovered
American art
Visual art of the United States or American art is visual art made in the United States or by U.S. artists. Before colonization, there were many flourishing traditions of Native American art, and where the Spanish colonized Spanish Colonial arc ...
in Paris, notably the works of
Kenneth Noland
Kenneth Noland (April 10, 1924 – January 5, 2010) was an American painter. He was one of the best-known American color field painters, although in the 1950s he was thought of as an abstract expressionist and in the early 1960s as a minimal ...
,
Morris Louis
Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D ...
,
Sam Francis
Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker.
Early life
Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,
, and
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...
. By 1963 he had become attracted to
abstraction
Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods.
"An abstraction" ...
. He was appointed as a teacher in the École des Arts Décoratifs (Decorative Arts School) of
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionclassical painting. He then started working systematically with one shape affixed on canvas without stretchers. His first personal exhibition took place at Nice's Galerie A in 1966. He also participated in several collective exhibitions that year.
In 1967, he was appointed as a teacher in the École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) in
Limoges
Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...
, where he met
Raoul Hausmann
Raoul Hausmann (July 12, 1886 – February 1, 1971) was an Austrian artist and writer. One of the key figures in Berlin Dada, his experimental photographic collages, sound poetry, and institutional critiques would have a profound influence on ...
. In 1968, in Paris, Viallat had his first personal exhibition at the gallery led by Jean Fournier – who remained his gallerist for nearly thirty years.
He then participated in an exhibition that arguably originated the “Support/Surfaces” movement at the ARC, in the Modern Art Museum of Paris. His works were in most of the exhibitions of the movement from 1969 to 1971. Although he initiated this group and influenced it aesthetically through his pictorial works, he resigned on May 3, 1971, as he disagreed with the political and theoretical orientations imposed by Louis Cane and Marc Devade.
In 1972, during his first trip to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, he discovered
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...
's paintings and the art of Native Americans. The same year, he participated in the “
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
-
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
-
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
” exhibition at the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...
of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, and the “Douze Ans d'Art Contemporain en France” exhibition (Twelve Years of Contemporary Art in France) at the
Grand Palais
The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...
in Paris.
In 1973, he was appointed as an instructor at the École des Beaux-Arts (the Fine Arts School) of Luminy (located at ''avenue de Luminy'', in
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
), and moved to Marseille. In 1974, the first ever Viallat exhibition in a museum was organised in
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...
's Musée d'Art et d'Industrie (Museum of Art and Industry).
In 1979, Viallat became director of the École des Beaux-Arts (Fine Arts School) of
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
. He started collecting objects related to bulls. His collection was the starting point of the Musée des Cultures Taurines (Museum of Bull Tradition) of Nîmes, opened in 1986.
The Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou (the National Modern Art Museum of Paris) hosted a Viallat retrospective in 1982.
He represented France at the
Venice Biennial
The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
in 1988. The same year, he made the stained-glass windows of the Gothic Choir in
Nevers Cathedral
Nevers Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Nevers, Nièvre, France, and dedicated to Saints Cyricus and Julitta. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Nevers. It is a national monument. The cathedral was desi ...
.
In 1991, he became a teacher at the
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine
The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...
(National Fine Arts School) of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and participated in the Supports/Surfaces historical and retrospective exhibition at the Musée d'Art Moderne (Modern Art Museum) of Saint-Étienne.
In 2006, he was awarded with the Fine Arts Academy's Fondation Simone et Cino del Duca (
Simone and Cino Del Duca Foundation
The Simone and Cino Del Duca Foundation is a Foundation (charity), charitable foundation based in Paris, France.
History
It was established in 1975 by Simone Del Duca (1912–2004), widow of publishing magnate Cino Del Duca (1899–1967). The ...
) prize for painting .
In France he has been represented by Galerie Daniel Templon Paris/Brussels since 1998 and by Ceysson & Bénétière (Paris, Saint-Étienne). Viallat is also represented internationally in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
by
Gallery Itsutsuji
is a contemporary art gallery founded in 1990 by Michiyasu Itsutsuji.
History
Expanding a tradition built over 20 years from around 1970 to 1990 by Fuji Television Gallery, Michiyasu Itsutsuji founded in the traditional cultural heart of To ...