"Michel-marie Poulain (1906-1991), Montfermy In Auvergne Seen From The Sioule Valley, 1958"
Poulain, Michel-Marie
Nogent-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne, December 5, 1906 – Mandelieu-la-Napoule, Alpes-Maritimes, February 9, 1991
Montfermy, near Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne, the village seen from the Sioule valley, December 1958
Oil on canvas
Signed lower left “M M Poulain.”
H. 54 cm. / L. 65 cm.
On the back of the canvas, dedication by the artist “A ma grande amie / Madame / Crerwabery / MMPoulain / Montfermy / Auvergne France” (or Mrs. Crowberry ?). Located and dated on a label stuck to the stretcher. Work cleaned and varnished by a professional restorer.
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Poulain, Michel-Marie
Nogent-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne, December 5, 1906 - Mandelieu-la-Napoule, Alpes-Maritimes, February 9, 1991
French painter, model and dancer.
A transgender woman, she served pre-transition as a sub-officer in a dragoon regiment. During the Second World War, she was imprisoned in a stalag from which she escaped in 1941. After the war, she worked as a model for top fashion houses and as a music-hall cabaret dancer.
As for her path towards transidentity, she underwent surgery as early as 1946. She was one of the first transgender women to gain notoriety in France.
She later opened a gallery in Cannes to exhibit her paintings. She is buried in Eze (Alpes-Maritimes).
Michel-Marie Poulain mainly paints scenes of everyday life, such as ballrooms, and Parisian cityscapes. His artistic style, characterised by cloisonné figures and bright colours, is sometimes reminiscent of Bernard Buffet (1928-1999).
As well as painting on canvas, Michel-Marie Poulain has also practised the art of stained glass and mural frescoes, notably for churches:
- Paris, Salon d’Hiver.
- Paris, Salon d’Automne.
- Paris, Salon des Indépendants.
- Paris, Salon des Tuileries.
- Paris, Galerie Heyrène, 1952; with Philippe Marie Picard (1915-1997) and Gerard Sekoto (1913-1993).
Critical reception
“Ses marines sont de premier ordre, surtout celle de Quimper, dans des gris argentés où les mâts zèbrent le ciel parallèlement au clocher vif, lointain. Une coupe de fruits n’est pas moins solidement composée, avec le minimum de graphisme. Même lorsqu’elle s’essaye à l’art abstrait, Michel-Marie Poulain parvient à nous captiver. Tempérament rare fait à la fois de fougue et d’esprit de recherche des plus méritoires.” – Henri Héraut
(His seascapes are first-rate, especially that of Quimper, in silvery greys where the masts streak the sky parallel to the bright, distant bell tower. A bowl of fruit is no less solidly composed, with a minimum of graphics. Even when she tries her hand at abstract art, Michel-Marie Poulain manages to captivate us. It’s a rare temperament, a combination of ardour and a highly commendable spirit of research.) – Henri Héraut
“Un expressionniste montmartrois dont la plus grande originalité consista longtemps à travestir sa personnalité sous des vêtements féminins.” – Gérald Schurr
(An expressionist from Montmartre whose greatest originality for a long time consisted in disguising his personality in women’s clothes.) – Gérald Schurr
“Il traite avec virtuosité les sujets les plus divers, et notamment des vues du vieux Montmartre.” – Bénézit
(He treats a wide range of subjects with virtuosity, including views of old Montmartre.) – Bénézit
“Le scandale qui entoure toujours la liberté ne doit pas rejaillir sur son œuvre. Poulain n’est pas une figure amusante de la faune parisienne qui brosse aussi des toiles, c’est avant tout un artiste, mieux : un ouvrier robuste et consciencieux devant les lois de son art.” – Jean Anouilh
(The scandal that always surrounds freedom should not reflect on his work. Poulain is not an amusing figure in the Parisian fauna who also paints canvases, he is above all an artist, better still: a robust and conscientious worker before the laws of his art.) – Jean Anouilh
“Ses French cancan au Moulin Rouge et La cavalière du Moulin Rouge portent les stigmates de son travail dans lequel elle sacrifie délibérément le détail, laissant à une seule courbe, bien expressive, à des couleurs plus ou moins vives, à des tâches d’ombre disposées ad hoc, le soin de souligner une attitude ou d’éclairer un caractère. Cocardières que des deux toiles ? Elles jonglent en effet avec trois couleurs : le blanc des froufrous des danseuses, le bleu de leurs chapeaux et le rouge du fond pour le premier tableau, et encore le blanc du cheval, le bleu de la robe de l’amazone et le rouge de la livrée du palefrenier pour l’autre. Un hommage au Moulin Rouge, que la peintre aimait particulièrement et qui, pour elle, symbolisait la France. La France entière.” – Francesco Rapazzini
(Her French Cancan au Moulin Rouge and La Cavalière du Moulin Rouge bear the scars of her work, in which she deliberately sacrificed detail, leaving it to a single, expressive curve, to more or less vivid colours, to ad hoc shadows, to underline an attitude or illuminate a character. Are these two canvases cocardières? They juggle with three colours: the white of the dancers’ frills, the blue of their hats and the red of the background in the first painting, and the white of the horse, the blue of the rider’s dress and the red of the groom’s livery in the second. A tribute to the Moulin Rouge, which the painter particularly loved and which, for her, symbolised France – the whole of France. The whole of France.) – Francesco Rapazzini
Bibliography
Le Magazine
Rivista Artiquariato
TRÉSORS magazine