Lucien Clergue

Life and Work

Lucien Clergue's photographic work is full of shadows and light, motifs that celebrate life but also symbolize death. His art is an ever evolving quest, an exploration of the unknown.

Born in 1934 in Arles in southern France, Lucien Clergue remained faithful to his homeland and the Mediterranean culture until the end of his life – they inspired and influenced his work decisively. The nude has a special significance in Clergues work. From the 1950s onwards, he repeatedly created nude photographs with an unmistakable signature. His »Zebra nudes«, in which he experimented with effects from stroboscopes, are as well-known as his early works »Nu de la mer«, in which women’s naked bodies blend into the seascape, like rocks washed by the surf.
Lucien Clergue is also known for his long friendship with Pablo Picasso and his close collaboration with Jean Cocteau. As the founder of one of the most important international festivals for photography, the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie in his hometown Arles, he has done a lot to make works by photographers from all over the world known.
His photographic work has been exhibited in many of the world's major museums and published in numerous international publications. On the occasion of the first anniversary of his death in November 2015, the Grand Palais in Paris dedicated a comprehensive retrospective to him.

Biography

1934	born in Arles, FR
1948	gets a box camera donated by his mother, learns photography in self-study
1954	first encounter with Pablo Picasso
1969	founded the photography festival »Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie« in Arles, FR
2014	died in Nîmes, FR

Works (Selection)

Lucien Clergue, Nu zébré (New York 2013), 2013, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Lucien Clergue, Nu zébré New York 2012, 1997, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Lucien Clergue, Nu de la mer, 1956, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Lucien Clergue, Picasso à la cigarette III, Cannes 1956, 1956 (printed 2006), © Picasso à la cigarette

Lucien Clergue, Picasso au bain de plages de Cannes, 1965, 1965 (printed 2005), © Picasso au bain de plages

Lucien Clergue, o.T. (31), 1955, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Solo exhibitions (selection)

2020	Lucien Clergue. The men and women of Lucien Clergue, Arles Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Atelier de Chaudronnerie, Arles, FR
2019	Clergue & Weston, Première expo, Premières oeuvres, La Croisière, Arles, FR
2018	Picasso mon ami, Château des Baux de Provence, Les Baux de Provence, FR Lucien Clergue: Poète Photographe, Cercle Cité, Luxembourg, LU
2017	Twenty-seven meetings with Picasso, Museu Picasso, Barcelona, ES
2015	Retrospective, Grand Palais National Museum, Paris, FR
2013	Lucien Clergue. Des hommes et des femmes habillées de lumière, Galerie Clairefontaine, Luxembourg, LU
2012	Ichundichundich. Picasso im Fotoportrait, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, DE
2011	Ichundichundich. Picasso im Fotoportrait, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, DE
2010	Nude Visions. 150 Jahre Körperbilder in der Fotografie, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, DE Lucien Clergue: Nus & autres sujets, Galerie Clairefontaine, Luxembourg, LU Nude Visions. 150 Jahre Körperbilder in der Fotografie, Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, DE
2009	Lucien Clergue, Yann Arthus-Bertrand Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, FR Les Rencontres d’Arles 2009, Arles, FR
2008	Lucien Clergue – Eine Retrospektive, Kunsthaus Wien, Vienna, AT Lucien Clergue: Magie und Mythos, Picasso Museum, Muenster, DE Die Hände der Kunst, Marta Herford, Herford, DE Lucien Clergue, Städtische Galerie Erlangen, Erlangen, DE sehen ganz nah und sehr fern, Städtische Galerie Erlangen, Erlangen, DE
2007	Exposition de photographies, Galerie Aittouarès, Paris, FR Art Protects, Yvon Lambert, Paris, FR gezeichnet, Galerie Peter Borchardt, Hamburg, DE
2006	Lucien Clergue. Fifty Years of Photography, Louis Stern Fine Arts, West Hollywood
2005	Go Figure, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton
2004	Les Rencontres d’Arles 2004, Arles, FR
1999	Lucien Clergue, Kamera und Fotomuseum Leipzig, Leipzig, DE
1962	Pavillon de Marsan, Palais du Louvre, Paris, FR
1961	Museum of Modern Art, New York

EXHIBITIONS AT BECK & EGGELING (SELECTION)

#BEduesseldorf

Dusseldorf / 12 February – 2 April 2016

#BEduesseldorf

Lucien Clergue - Nudes

Dusseldorf / 6 September – 26 October 2013

Publications

BE Highlights 2020

Artists: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Aljoscha, Herbert Beck, Bertozzi & Casoni, Joachim Brohm, Marc Chagall, Kwang Young Chun, Lucien Clergue, Gehard Demetz, Piero Dorazio, Gerhard Hoehme, Anselm Kiefer, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Heinz Mack, August Macke, Fausto Melotti, Giorgio Morandi, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Heribert C. Ottersbach, Pablo Picasso, Fabrizio Plessi, Rudolf Polanszky, Chris Reinecke, Gerhard Richter, Norbert Tadeusz, Manolo Valdés
Editor: Michael Beck, Ute Eggeling
Text: Aljoscha, Michael Beck, Jil Campisi, Ute Eggeling, Andrea Knop, Andrea Krause, Kirsten Nordahl, Katja Ott, Heribert C. Ottersbach, Sebastian Schemann, Miriam Walgate
Design: Antonia Eggeling
English, German
Softcover, 25 x 21 cm
120 pages, 92 illustrations
Beck & Eggeling Kunstverlag, 2020
ISBN 978-3-94606324-7
20 €

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STRANGE BEAUTY

Artists: Rania Akl, Gerhard Altenbourg, Nikos Aslanidis, Roger Ballen, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Bertozzi & Casoni, Louise Bourgeois, Herbert Beck, Joachim Brohm, Jewgeni Chaldej, Lucien Clergue, Gehard Demetz, Lorenza Diaz, Joachim Elzmann, Katsura Funakoshi, Marianna Gartner, Wolf Hamm, Aspassio Haronitaki, Damien Hirst, Gerhard Hoehme, Leiko Ikemura, Monica Ursina Jäger, Lia Kazakou, Julia Kissina, Jürgen Klauke, Susanne Kühn, Daecheon Lee, Wolfe von Lenkiewicz, Robert Longo, Robert Lucander, Xavier Mascaró, Richard Mosse, Hartmut Neumann, Heribert C. Ottersbach, Chris Reinecke, Katharina Schilling, Norbert Schwontkowski, Valentina Seidel, Norbert Tadeusz, Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Miriam Vlaming, Stefan à Wengen, Robert Wilson, Thomas Wrede
Editor: Ute Eggeling, Michael Beck
Text: Charles Baudelaire, Kirsten Nordahl
Design: Beck & Eggeling (Antonia Eggeling, Martina Löhle)
German, English
Softcover, 24 x 20 cm
128 pages, 115 illustrations
Beck & Eggeling Kunstverlag, 2017
ISBN 978-3-94606312-4
20 €

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Further publications

bibliography

Lucien Clergue
Giles Huxley-Parlour (Hg.),
Galerie Chris Beetles, London, 2012

Lucien Clergue. Curated by Christian Lacroix
Bernheimer Fine Art Photography, München 2009

Lucien Clergue. Sacre D´Eros et Thanatos
Ausstellungskatalog, Abbaye de Montmajour, 2009

Lucien Clergue. Magie und Mythos
Ausstellungskatalog, Kunsthaus Wien /
Graphikmuseum Pablo Picasso, Münster /
Städtische Galerie Erlangen, Wien 2007

Lucien Clergue. Roots.
The Gypsy Kings And Their Journey. A Photographic History
Onstage Presentation Inc, 2004