BUON FRESCO |
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| Isabelle
Bonzom is an expert in buon fresco, a painting made with
pigments and water on a fresh and wet coat of lime and sand. Her book, which was awarded a grant from the National Center of the Book (Centre National du Livre), is a study of the The preface is written by philosopher Baldine Saint Girons.
“With
this beautiful book, Isabelle Bonzom, herself a fresco painter as
well as an art historian, invites the readers to a stirring journey
through time and space. She examines the various technical stages
involved in painting a fresco, communicates information and thoughts,
and deals with the aesthetical stakes of an art which is often anonymous
although it sometimes bears prestigious signatures such as those of
Masaccio, Michelangelo and Tiepolo. This is a specialized book, yet
clear and accessible. It is written in a poetic style well suited
to convey the passion which fuels fresco artists who work with natural
materials and in a total symbiosis with the place where they paint.
A book magnificently illustrated, “Fresco, art and technique”
demonstrates the durability of this total art and its value in contemporary
society.”
Joëlle-Elmyre Doussot, in L'Objet d'Art N°462, Nov. 2010
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"The
"Octopus" fresco was a commission for a private residence
in Provence, part of which is troglodyte (built into the natural rock).
"Octopus" is housed in the basement made with stone, earth,
shingles and tiles. The soil of the region (the Verdon) is made with
clay and shingles. There are lakes around the house and I wanted to
create a kind and aquatic monster, protector of the house. The theme
of the octopus was also a good way to enhance the chromatic power
of the buon fresco technique (only pigments and water on the wet coat
made of lime and sand). The octopus is an animal capable of agility
both in its body and in its mind. It lives according to its environment
and goes through lots of changes in its colors and shapes. Those are
the reasons why I chose to paint an octopus in that house, because
buon fresco art requires suppleness and a sense of adaptation and
it’s a play on metamorphoses" says Isabelle Bonzom
to journalist Margalit Molnar Goitein. |
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| "Fresco without safety net" "... Isabelle Bonzom makes use of transparency and quickness. She ‘prepares herself for the fresco’ with detailed watercolor drawings. She then executes her projects on the fresh coating, without transferring her drawings, without a cartoon, without any ‘safety net’ . . . This technical tour de force stimulates the artist’s concentration as well as energizes her style. The fresco can therefore, as it was, capture from life the gestural and the inspiration of the artist whose choice illustrates a personal demand that is in tune with a rigorous technique, - direct painting alla prima -, which does not leave room for correction. Although Isabelle Bonzom’s paintings are mural, they are not monumental; indeed, the artist attaches more importance to their location within a space rather than their size. The coating appears here and there, bare, as a background or a band of white in ‘Vie et Mort d’un Poulet’ and ‘Les Hommes de Saint-Maur’. In so doing, the fresco painter pays tribute to the lime mortar, the support of her work, a warm and living material that is unanimously acknowledged." Excerpt of an article by art journalist Sylvie Montmoulineix, published in "L'Art et sa méthode" #59, special issue about fresco, in 1992. |
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“The
limpidities of Isabelle Bonzom” |
| Baldine Saint Girons is a professor of Esthetics and Philosophy at the University of Nanterre, Paris X. An art curator, she is also the author of many books, in particular “Le Paysage et la question du sublime (The Landscape and the Question of the Sublime)”, Editions du Seuil, 2001. She has published "Les Marges de la nuit", Editions de l'Amateur Read a translation of this article below: |
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"Why
is it that the brush seems to understand the mystery of the support
? That is because Isabelle Bonzom is a fresco painter. She loves walls,
their expanse, color, texture, and above all, the nimbleness of execution
that they demand, once they have been “prepared”. Is it
that the mortar is made of a lime as propitious to the birth of art
as the white rain poured by the liming machine on the fields it fertilizes?
Mural art requires, at the same time, an integration into the site,
a sureness of touch and a capacity to anticipate. The brevity of the
time allowed for work as well as the random and risky nature of preserving
the retouches demand a specific concentration, as the mortar cannot
wait. Light, thus, comes from the depth of the wall. Hence, an impression
of freshness and vulnerability. Baldine Saint Girons, 2003 |
Click
on Articles to read more
of Baldine Saint Girons' text about Isabelle Bonzom |
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From 1993 to 2003, Isabelle Bonzom has taught buon fresco and mural art at the International Center of Mural Art at Saint-Savin, France. She currently leads fresco workshops for students and professionals at the Duperré Fine Art School, in Paris. Over the years, Isabelle has trained mural art practitioners from France and many countries of Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia. For
more info about the next buon fresco workshop (on wall) in Paris (60h, Sundays from April 6 to June 8) and the registrations click here.
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Buon fresco workshop at the private estate of La Madelène, nestled at the South-East base of majestic Mount Ventoux, close to the Gigondas and Vacqueyras vineyards and near Avignon. This 35-hour workshop is an introductory course to buon fresco on wall. |
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