The uniqueness of the French artist Henri Beaufour lies in the fact that, through portraiture, he offers a different vision of beauty from what we are accustomed to, completely outside the realm of academicism as well as anti-academicism. His sculptures embody incredible freedom, a distortion of both the material and the portrayed subject, derived from literary, philosophical, and artistic memories blended with elements drawn from reality. The artist brings forth from the material an essential truth, a state of being that reaches the pinnacle of unparalleled expressionism.
In painting, Beaufour invents the “backgroundless.” His portraits or characters are depicted directly on the canvas. There is no background, no possible distraction for the eye, no confusion allowed, no escape route. Beaufour offers a work stripped of embellishments, without artifice, raw and brutal, yet deeply captivating because it reflects reality. Simultaneously baroque, expressionist, and informal, Beaufour builds, through the parallel paths of sculpture, painting, drawing, and engraving, an endless search for existential truth.
His exhibition, Henri Beaufour. Portraits imaginaires / sculptures-tableaux-gravures, running until November 23 at Palazzo Pisani Santa Marina, is an unmissable opportunity to discover the singularity of his work, original and free from formal preconceptions.
