the essential
On December 7, 2024, a study day in Cahors will highlight Jean Leymarie, a major figure in 20th century Art, often little-known locally, but respected by great contemporary artists.
The collective of the 3 associations Université Pour Tous Cahors Quercy, Société des études du Lot, and Carrefour des sciences et des arts initiated in 2023 the “Regards crossed” study day around a personality from Lot or a particular theme of local history.
Joined this year by the Association of former students of Gambetta high school and college, they are offering on Saturday December 7, 2024, at the Clément Marot Congress area in Cahors, a day of study dedicated to the discovery of an exceptional man, Jean Leymarie, too little known in our department and to the general public, but unanimously considered in the arts world as the one who took a keen look at 20th century art and its relationship with reality and society.
Jean Leymarie: an extraordinary destiny
What an extraordinary destiny, in fact, that of Jean Leymarie! Coming from a modest family from Lot, a combination of circumstances led him to meet René Huyghe, curator at the Louvre museum, present at the Château de Montal, where major works of art were protected during the war.
The intellectual and aesthetic shock of this brilliant student, recruited as a guard, will determine his entire life. It was the beginning of a brilliant career as an art historian, at the head of prestigious museums (Museum of Grenoble, Museum of Modern Art) and which ended at the direction of the Académie de France in Rome. Close to the artist Alberto Giacometti, he became vice-president of the Giacometti Foundation from 2003 to 2006. The deep bonds of friendship he maintained with the greatest artists of the 20th century made him an exceptional, multiple man of culture. , sensitive, poet, visionary art critic.
7 communications of 30 minutes each will address all facets of his background and personality. In the presence of his family, who will introduce the day by talking about his youth and his attachment to Lot. Screening on this occasion of the documentary film “La guerre du Louvre” by Jean-Claude Bringuier.
