Printer: Mourlot

Dimensions: 76 x 56 cm

Condition: Very good condition 

Frame: Oak

Description: Roger Bezombes had a remarkable gift for combining art with public life. This original exhibition poster was published for his 1971 exhibition at the Musée des Beaux Arts in Nîmes, timed to coincide with the city’s famous Feria, when thousands of visitors gather to celebrate the traditions, music and spectacle of southern France.

The image captures a matador confronting a charging bull, a subject that perfectly suited Bezombes’ bold decorative style. Rather than aiming for strict realism, he used colour, pattern and simplified forms to create a sense of movement and drama, qualities that run through his work in painting, murals, stained glass, tapestry and theatre design.

Holding the exhibition during the Feria was no coincidence. Bullfighting has been part of Nîmes’ cultural identity for generations, centred on its remarkably well-preserved Roman amphitheatre, which still hosts events today. By combining a contemporary graphic style with the long-standing ritual of the Feria, the poster stands out as one of Bezombes’ most memorable designs.

Artist: Roger Bezombes was a French painter, sculptor, designer and printmaker. Born in Paris, he was orphaned at a young age and forced to work in many different jobs to fund his painting career. At 17, he helped install the major Bauhaus exhibition at the Grand Palais in 1930. He would later study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he met Maurice Denis who introduced him to the works of Gaugin, Van Gogh and Matisse all of which would inspire and influence much of his own artistic style.

After winning a prestigious award in 1936, Bezombes was offered a grant to study in Africa. Travel continued to influence his work and it was on a trip to Greece in 1951 that he developed a passion for tapestry. In 1955 he was appointed the official painter of the French Navy. He exhibited in group and solo shows with many of his brightly coloured landscape and figure studies, reminiscent of exotic African cultures, throughout his career. He died in Paris in 1994.