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Les Onze
huile sur toile, 115 x 195 cm Prix3500€ + envoi
History Painting was long considered the noblest genre of painting. In his novel, Pierre Michon evokes the life of the painter who created the immense painting exhibited in the ultimate room of the Louvre behind bulletproof glass. This painting depicts the eleven members of the Committee of Public Safety shortly before the 9 Thermidor, which marks the end of Robespierre’s “reign.” Who commissioned this painting? For what purpose? Michon alternates between the painter and these eleven characters, mostly failed literati, caught in the madness of history like the reader in this novel. They are puppets, the puppets of Terror… I wanted to paint this painting that doesn’t exist. The setting, which is not described in the book, had to be found. I found it in Wajda’s film “Danton,” which masterfully staged the temporary and improvised nature of this historical moment. Based on engravings or paintings from the period, I tried to give these puppets their faces and the expression that corresponded to the image each had of himself and his role in the great revolutionary farce. This painting would have its place in a town hall or a ministry.