Gérard Fromanger, Pioneer of Narrative Figuration, Dies at 82

On Monday, Gérard Fromanger, a prominent artist within the Narrative Figuration movement, died. He rose to prominence in the 1960s alongside notable figures such as René Bertholo, Peter Klasen, Bernard Rancillac, and Hervé Télémaque, exploring themes of urban existence and consumerism. Fromanger exhibited at the Salon de mai in both 1964 and 1965 and helped establish the Atelier Populaire in 1968, where he created political serigraphs during the May protests. He became well-known for a series of paintings featuring red flags and the Souffles series of street sculptures. His 1976 oil painting, Existe, critiques the media's connection to art. In the late 1970s, he shifted to painting portraits of friends and later Italian landscapes. A retrospective of his work was held in 2005.