Paul-Auguste Masui

Biography

Paul-Auguste Masui
(1888, Differdange, Luxembourg - 1981, Uccle, Belgium)

" The vision of Paul-Auguste Masui is sculptural, massive, he avoids any anecdote, goes over picturesque, goes to the essential, it's a strong painting, solidly structured. The artist choses to stay figurative with a distinctive taste for synthesis and a touch of expressionism. If the painting of Masui is a witness of its time, it is also timeless, with his strength of suggestion, his splendid palette, his singular personality."

Catherine Puget, former curator of the Pont-Aven Museum

When he evokes a landscape, Paul-Auguste Masui supposes the close relation between inhabitants and nature to which they are exposed, with architecture sheltering them and rituals they created.

The fluidity of his brush expresses the union between fishermen and the sea, the domination of this dangerous element : from now on they are famous sailors.

Explosive colours of his palette unify nature and characters, these last ones not being distinct anymore. He celebrates the intimate communion between man and nature.

His simplified compositions, at the border of abstraction, render the gravity and religiosity of procession movement in a long human beachcomber.

The meeting of Masui with this archaic beauty led him to create a pictorial revolution in which he gave free rein to his personality. The more his temperament is unveiled, the better he expresses the singularity of Brittany. This personal vision offers an extra touch of soul to all his works.

Exhibitions selected

Solo exhibitions
2011 - Un expressionniste en Bretagne, Jean-Joigny Space, France
2008 - Rétrospective de l'oeuvre bretonne, Pont-Aven Museum, Pont-Aven
1984 - Rétrospective, Belgium University, Bruxelles, Belgium
1935 - Pavillon Brabant, Universal Exibition, Bruxelles, Belgium
1929 - Toison d'or Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium

Group exhibitions
2017 - Ailleurs est ici, École des Filles, Huelgoat, France
2015 - Briser le toit de la maison - Le sacré dans l'art, École des filles, Huelgoat, France
2010 - Couleurs fauves, Françoise Livinec Gallery, Paris, France
2008/2008 - Costumes bretons, Françoise Livinec Gallery, Paris, France
2013 - Quel temps fait-il ? Un climat de tableaux modernes et contemporains, Ecole des filles, Huelgoat, France
2012 - Pierre qui roule? - Les figures du paysage, Ecole des filles, Huelgoat, France
2006 - Les peintres de Bretagne, Pont-Aven Museum, Pont-Aven, France
1982 - Nos maîtres du passé, Izel Culture Center, Izel, Belgium
1982 - Maîtres rétrospective C.Barthelemy et P.A. Masui, Izel Culture Center, Izel, Belgium
1982 - Maîtres luxembourgeois, Izel Culture Center, Izel, Belgium

Public collections
- Fine Arts Museum, Tournai, Belgium
- Charlier Museum, Bruxelles, Belgium
- Ixelles city Museum, Bruxelles, Belgium
- Fine Arts Museum, Mons, Belgium
- Royal Museum, Mariemont, Belgium
- Carnavalet, Paris, France
- Fine Arts Museum, Quimper, France
- City Museum, Bruxelles, Belgium
- Thijl Ulenspiegel Museum, Damme, Belgium
- Fine Arts Museum, Verviers, Belgium
- Cagnes-sur-Mer Castle Museum, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
- Centre de la gravure et de l'image imprimée, La Louvière, Belgium
- Library of Congress, Washington, United-States
- Cabinet des Estampes, Geneva, Swiss
- Pont-Aven Museum, Pont-Aven, France
- Chalcographie of Bruxelles, Belgium
- Cabinet des Estampes,Bibliothèque Royale Albert Ier, Bruxelles, Belgium

Bibliography
2007 - Paul-Auguste Masui - Un expressionniste en Bretagne, Éditions Françoise Livinec
2012 - Pierre qui roule... Les figures du paysage, Éditions Françoise Livinec
2013 - Quel temps fait-il ? Un climat d'oeuvres d'art modernes et contemporaines, Éditions Françoise Livinec