Emmanuel Bellini (1909-1989) “country Scene”

Emmanuel Bellini was born in Monaco on March 26, 1904, to a father who was a mechanic and fitter and international gymnast and a mother who was an embroiderer. At the age of 15 in 1919, he entered the Ecole Supérieure d'Arts Plastiques in the city of Monaco. His family being unable to financially support further artistic studies in Paris, Bellini entered as an apprentice with Charles Delmas, architect, with whom he worked for 8 years. Alongside his profession, he creates humorous drawings and caricatures for the press under the name “Mène”. He settled in Sainte-Maxime in 1929, and was, among other things, the executive architect of the Maeght foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Self-taught, he began painting in 1948, encouraged by Cyril Constantin. After only one year of practice, he exhibited in Cannes in the hall of the Compagnie Grosso and achieved immediate success. Praised by Louis Pasteur and Jean-Gabriel Domergue, he will be recognized in France and abroad, notably in Paris at the Pétrides gallery where he exhibited from 1951 to 1976. Emmanuel Bellini acquired a beautiful chapel in 1953. Baroque inspiration, erected in 1894 by Count Vitali, as his workshop. He works hard there, and produces a lot. In 1972, Prince Rainier of Monaco offered Emmanuel Bellini a retrospective of his works as part of Winter Sporting. One hundred and fifty paintings are exhibited there, including the very first “two parakeets”, a work returned for this occasion from New York. For his 80th birthday, the Prince is offering him a new exhibition which will be an opportunity to present their common passion: a series of creations on the theme of the circus. After his death in 1989 in Cannes, each year at the Monaco International Circus Festival an Emmanuel Bellini Prize is awarded.