– From Friday, February 25 to Sunday, May 29, 2011.
– On the occasion of the opening of this exhibition, Jean-Louis Boucher, son of Pierre Boucher, will host a conference on Friday, February 25, 2011, at 2:30 PM in the auditorium of the Matisse Museum to present his father’s work.
As every year, the Matisse Museum showcases its photographic collection – a rich testament to the life and work of the painter – by presenting prints from its documentation center.
To continue its program of discovering collections and photographers who encountered Henri Matisse, the museum has chosen to present the work of Pierre Boucher, who created portraits of the painter and views of his studio in 1938, in Nice, in his apartment at the Régina.
– This exhibition presents the photographer’s work in all its aspects, with the aim of making his art known and better understanding how he perceived Matisse.
Some of the photographs presented are previously unseen. They come from the collections of Pierre Boucher’s son and the Niépce Museum in Chalon-sur-Saône, which is dedicated to photography.
Trained as a graphic designer, Pierre Boucher discovered photography during his military service.
A proponent of the New Vision, Pierre Boucher experimented with all avant-garde photography techniques: photograms, photomontages, polarizations, and superimpositions.
His work revolves around several themes.
In the field of advertising, Pierre Boucher contributed to replacing drawings with photography for a better representation of the product. He believed that photomontage has a stronger and more effective impact on the audience.
Another essential aspect of his work lies in the nude, which he first explored in the style of the New Objectivity. He then practiced surrealist and neo-classical nudes.
For him, industrial photography is a means of revealing the exact reality of the world and the unexpected aesthetics of objects, those rendered mundane, discreet, and familiar by everyday life. His photographs bear the imprint of the New Objectivity.
Among his other favorite themes is sports. Movement, speed, rhythm, dynamism, vigor, and the body in full effort are all characteristics of his photographs in this domain.
Versatile, Pierre Boucher also enjoyed photographing urban and architectural views. His photos serve as testimonies of the society of the time.
Finally, he also brought back numerous photographs and drawings from his frequent travels. A graphical dimension, stemming from his perspective shaped by his early years of study, can be found throughout his work.
