Guy De Montlaur

Guy Joseph Marie de Villardi comte de Montlaur (born 9 September 1918, Biarritz— died 10 August 1977, Garches) was a French painter[1] from the Languedoc family of Montlaur.[2]

He was a resistance fighter in WW2, he landed in Normandy on 6 June 1944 with the Kieffer Commandos, he participated in the Battle of Normandy and landed again in Holland on 1 November 1944.[3]

Montlaur's paintings were influenced by the great classical works such as those by Paolo Uccello, Ingres, Delacroix and later Kandinsky. One can define four styles characterising the evolution of Montlaur's work: cubism immediately post-war, geometric abstraction from 1949, abstract expressionism from 1955 and finally lyrical abstraction around 1960, once he had achieved the summit of his art and technique. His work was often mystical, sometimes religious, and was marked by the terrible memories of his wartime experiences.

He started to paint at a young age. Between 1936 and 1938 while studying literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne he was a regular at Emmanuel Fougerat's studio and then at the Academie Julian. He worked with Jean Souverbie and accompagnied him to the World's Fair of 1937 at the Palais de Chaillot.

Exhibitions[edit]
1937 : Salon des Artistes Français, Paris.
1949 : Galerie Lucienne-Léonce Rosenberg, Paris.
1949-1950 : Salon des Surindépendants, Paris.
1951 and 1954 : Galerie Colette Allendy, Paris.
1951 : 3rd Exhibition Art Club, Hotel Negresco, Nice.
1950-1958 : Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, Paris.
1959 : Comité France-Amérique, Paris.
1971 : Galerie Rolf Lutz, Paris.
1993 : Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco.
1994 : French Embassy, Washington, D.C.
2012 : Memorial Pegasus and Ranville City Hall Library, Normandy, France.
2012 : Chateau de La Thibaudière Orangery, Anjou, France, on National Heritage Day.
2013-2014 : Chateau de Montlaur, Hérault, France.
2014 : Memorial Pegasus, Ranville, Normandy.
2015 : Memorial Pegasus, Ranville, Normandy, France. Permanent exhibition of "Pegasus before landing" donated to the museum.
2015 : Perm State Art Gallery, Perm, Federation of Russia.
2016 : Exhibition Hall of the Union of Artists of Russia, Chelyabinsk, Federation of Russia.
2016 : Poklewski-Koziell House, Sverdlovsk Regional Museum Yekaterinburg, Federation of Russia.
2016 : Union of Exhibition Halls of Moscow, Gallery "Na Kashirke", Moscow, Federation of Russia.
2016 : The Institut Français in Russia "[1]", Mo...