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Biography of James-Jacques Brown
James-Jacques Brown was born on October 22, 1918 in Paris. His mother was a domestic worker for Americans and his father was a soldier, also American. After his baccalaureate, he studied law and began his first drawings. In 1942, he became an editor at the Ministry of Finance, which was located in a wing of the Louvre. He frequented the museum. In 1945, he devoted himself entirely to painting. The artist has an obsession: to leave a credible trace of himself. He began with self-portraits, where very quickly, the outline of the face gave way to an abstract form. The question of the human being and its representation is at the heart of Brown's work, without forgetting a very strong mystical quest. Little by little, James-Jacques Brown created his own world populated by fantastic characters. He was influenced by mythologies, religions, tales and science fiction. He discovers lithography and creates imaginative linocuts with a very sure line. In 1950, the meeting of the sculptor Henri Etienne-Martin will change his life a little. They will become friends. Not only is James-Jacques Brown a painter, but he is also a talented sculptor. From 1952, he participated in all the Salons of young sculpture but also in the Salon de mai in 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964 and 1965, in the Salon des réalités nouvelles. In 1958 and 1959, the Rodolphe Stadler Gallery in Paris organized two solo exhibitions for him. In the United States, he was regularly presented by the Mayer Gallery and Peggy Guggenheim even bought one of his paintings on velvet. In the 1960s, Jacques Brown had his moment of glory and some critics considered him one of the most gifted and surprising artists of his time; rarely leaving his studio, he did not like to talk, shunned openings and the art world.He put an end to his artistic activity at the end of the 80s. In 1955, he had discovered the immense possibilities offered by the use of laminated polyester; this material caused the artist a serious illness that led to his death in 1991. His work "Ecce homo" is premonitory in this respect.The Museum of Fine Arts in Vannes (La Cohue), will organize in 2013 the first retrospective of this forgotten artist, whose work is based on a logic and a very personal imagination.