Nonda - 1960's Public Art On A Large Scale

1960's Public Art On A Large Scale

Increasingly frustrated by constraints of limited gallery space and complaints that large works don’t sell, he decided to move his work outdoors and work on a huge scale. In 1960, with the personal support of the French minister of culture, Andre Malraux, Nonda organized a one man exhibition under the arch of the Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris). This was a revival of a forgotten tradition in which leading French painters such as Boucher and Chardin had exhibited their own workd “en plein aire” in the 18th century at the nearby Place Dauphine. Nonda’s Pont Neuf exhibitions occurred four years in a row, with a different theme each year. The two most famous were the 1960 exhibition devoted to the 15th century poet Francois Villon and the 1963 exhibition known for the massive wooden sculpture of a “Trojan Horse” which Nonda lived inside for the duration of the show.

The Villon exhibition was dedicated to the life and work of Francois Villon, the 15th century French poet. Forty-six years ago, this huge canvas of Villon’s feast hung as the centerpiece of the show. It depicts the great “vagabond poet” with his voluptuous concubines. Nonda was drawn to this mysterious figure, the great French medieval poet who somehow combined a life of promiscuity, murder and debauchery with some of the finest poetry in the French language. For three centuries, lyric poetry drew its inspiration from the strict ideals of courtly love. Villon’s poetry, in contrast, spoke of a world without order or reason. His vision is humoristic, a parody which reverses the morals and values he believed had paralyzed literature. His poetry wished to free readers into a fantasy borne of laughter. Villon expresses great sympathy for the courtesans of the time and this sympathy is extended to all victims of society in his poetry. Poetry for Villon ceases to be about nobles and their virtues and instead is a response to an unjust world. For these reasons, Villon has been hailed as “the first modern poet” and was celebrated by Nonda repeatedly in his ouvre. The Villon exhibition was dedicated to the life and work of Francois Villon, the 15th century French poet. Forty-six years ago, this huge canvas of Villon’s feast hung as the centerpiece of the show. It depicts the great “vagabond poet” with his voluptuous concubines. Nonda was drawn to this mysterious figure, the great French medieval poet who somehow combined a life of promiscuity, murder and debauchery with some of the finest poetry in the French language. For three centuries, lyric poetry drew its inspiration from the strict ideals of courtly love. Villon’s poetry, in contrast, spoke of a world without order or reason. His vision is humoristic, a parody which reverses the morals and values he believed had paralyzed literature. His poetry wished to free readers into a fantasy borne of laughter. Villon expresses great sympathy for the courtesans of the time and this sympathy is extended to all victims of society in his poetry. Poetry for Villon ceases to be about nobles and their virtues and instead is a response to an unjust world. For these reasons, Villon has been hailed as “the first modern poet” and was celebrated by Nonda repeatedly in his ouvre. The exhibitions functioned as installations combining large painting, sculpture, objects and furniture which were open to the public day and night. This avant-garde concept created a sensation in Paris and in the art press worldwide.

In 1963 he built The Trojan Horse. Under the massive stone arches of the oldest bridge in Paris, the Horse towered above an entire microcosm. The paintings surrounded the viewers on both walls which were also hung with giant painted platters and carved vases. Life-sized human sculptures and busts of plaster or wood stared out toward the river. All of this created an otherworldly atmosphere, an atmosphere in which the art was no longer something untouchable and distant but a space the viewers inhabited. He lived inside the horse for the duration of the show, and guests were able to sit with him in the medieval chairs at the hand carved tables and drink from the goblets he had cast in bronze. The exhibition was in some respects unofficially “interactive”. The Pont Neuf Exhibits were given official sponsorship by the Commitie des Fetes de Paris as annual artistic events supported by the city of Paris. In the last paragraph of Crespelle’s landmark book, (“Montmartre Vivant”) which charts the major artistic figures of Paris’ Montmartre district, he writes, “Nonda, the volcanic Greek painter (Greque volcanique), continues to hold true to the traditions of free and revolutionary painting at the summit of the old hill.”