Pierre Carron (16 December 1932 – 19 March 2022) was a French

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, especially known for his portrayals of children and natural landscapes.

Biography

Born in

Fécamp Fécamp () is a commune in the northwestern French department of Seine-Maritime. Geography Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is around northeast of Le Havre, ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he primarily studied drawing at the École Régionale des Beaux-Arts in

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

. Because of the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, he was, for a time, the only student at the school. Later, he attended the

École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (; ÉnsAD) also known as Arts Decos' and École des Arts décoratifs, is a public grande école of art and design, constituent member of PSL Research University. The school is located in the R ...

, then, in 1951, he entered the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

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 ...

, for 4 years, to study and work under the mentorship of Raymond Legueult. In 1957, he received the ''

Prix de la critique The Prix de la critique is a prize awarded by the Association des Critiques et des journalistes de Bande Dessinée to the best comic album released for a year in France. Previously, from 1984 to 2003, it was called ''Prix Bloody Mary'' and awarded ...

'' and, in 1960, the

Grand Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

. From 1961 to 1964 he took up residence in the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in the historic ...

, where he met

Balthus Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his ima ...

, director of the establishment at the time. They developed a deep friendship that Carron would celebrate in many of his works. He became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1967, a post he held for thirty years. He was the last professor at the school to teach exclusively in a figurative, realist, style of painting. In 1991, he was elected to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

, to the chair previously occupied by Félix Labisse, and in 2002 was made President of the Académie, as well as serving as vice-president in 2018 under

Patrick de Carolis Patrick de Carolis (born 19 November 1953) is a French TV journalist and writer. He has been president of French public service broadcaster France Télévisions from July 2005 to August 2010. Biography Journalistic career President of Fr ...

. Aside from his paintings, Carron's major works also include the

stained glass windows Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

in the

Orléans Cathedral Orléans Cathedral ( French: ''Basilique Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d'Orléans'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the city of Orléans, France. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Orléans. Built on the ruins of a Roman temple from ...

and a double

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

for the Saint-Etienne Cathedral in

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

. Carron died on 19 March 2022 at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carron, Pierre 1932 births 2022 deaths 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters Members of the Académie des beaux-arts People from Fécamp Artists from Normandy Prix de Rome for painting Academic staff of the École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts alumni Lycée Condorcet alumni École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs alumni Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques 20th-century French sculptors French male sculptors