"Initiation" Painting

From photography to painting. Art has always been present in my life, as a collector, as a dealer and then the desire to be in front of the blank canvas became stronger, I took the plunge. "At first there was one fish, then two, then flowers, fruits, vegetables, and finally men." Joseph Rethlin is my artist name. "Joseph Rethlin is a contemporary French painter whose artistic universe explores memory, light, and emotion through expressive and deeply instinctive painting. A former collector and art dealer, he turned to painting later in life. His work is primarily focused on contemporary still life, while also including portraiture. His painting is distinguished by rich and vibrant textures, built through layering, relief, and spontaneous gestures, giving each artwork a sensitive, textured, and almost organic presence. Between poetic abstraction and free figuration, he develops a personal pictorial language where texture, light, and color play a central role. Joseph Rethlin’s universe is structured around recurring themes that have become his artistic signature: lemons, fish, flowers, and portraits inspired by the expressionist legacy of Mané-Katz. These recurring motifs function as visual symbols, carrying memory, spirituality, and emotional intensity. His luminous lemons embody Mediterranean vitality, the light of everyday life, and an aesthetic of expressive simplicity. Fish introduce a strong symbolic dimension, between movement, silence, and inner depth. Flowers express a balance between fragility, sensuality, and chromatic power, with a strong pictorial presence. In his portraits, Joseph Rethlin freely draws inspiration from the expressive force of Mané-Katz while asserting a personal contemporary style. Faces emerge from the pictorial material itself, traversed by light, contrasts, and the memory of gesture. Each painting becomes a living space where color, matter, and emotion meet, resulting in an authentic, distinctive, and immediately recognizable body of work."© From photography to painting, art has always played a central role in my life, first as a collector, then as a dealer. Gradually, the need to stand in front of a blank canvas became stronger, until it turned into an undeniable necessity. I took the step toward creation. “At the beginning, there was a fish, then two, then flowers, fruits, vegetables, and finally men…” Joseph Rethlin is my artist name.