Jean René Bazaine

Jean René Bazaine
Jean René Bazaine
Born	21 December 1904 (age 121); Paris, France
Died	4 March 2001 (aged 96); Clamart, France
Occupation(s)	Painter, stained glass designer, writer
Known for	Painting, stained glass design, literary contributions

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Jean René Bazaine, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 10 August 2025

Jean René Bazaine (; 21 December 1904 – 4 March 2001) was a French artist known for his painting, stained glass design, and literary contributions. He descended from the English Court portraitist Sir George Hayter as his great-great-grandson.

Studies

Born in Paris, Bazaine initially studied sculpture at the Académie Julian and under Paul Landowski, following a short period at the École des Beaux-Arts. Simultaneously, he pursued studies in philosophy and literature at the Sorbonne, where he obtained certificates in both art history and philosophy between 1921 and 1925. The philosophical work L'évolution créatrice by Bergson had a notable impact on his thinking. Alongside Jurgis Baltrušaitis, he became part of the inaugural "Groupe d'Histoire de l'art," led by Emile Mâle and Henri Focillon.

These academic experiences culminated in his seminal 1948 publication Notes sur la peinture d'aujourd'hui, which questioned strict separations between abstract and figurative art forms. This theoretical perspective underpinned his appointment as the European juror for the 1952 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting, a role conferred by the Carnegie Foundation alongside American painter William Baziotes.

Though he ceased sculptural practice early on, Bazaine maintained strong connections with renowned sculptors such as Alexander Calder, Henri Laurens, and his neighbor Giacometti within Paris’ Porte de Vanves studio district.

Painting

Bazaine became a prominent figure within the Modern School of Paris. Unfortunately, a fire in 1945 destroyed much of his oeuvre, leaving only a few surviving pieces from his influential 1930s watercolor series that foreshadowed his later experimental approach.

His early career included group exhibitions alongside Jean Fautrier, Édouard Goerg, and Marcel Gromaire at Galerie Jeanne Castel in Paris in 1930. His debut solo exhibition at Galerie Van Leer in 1932 received acclaim from Pierre Bonnard, who acknowledged Bazaine’s innovative use of color bridging Post-Impressionism and Abstract Impressionism. In 1937, he forged a lasting friendship with Jacques Villon.

Following military service completion in 1941, Bazaine actively opposed prevailing skepticism toward modern art by organizing the avant-garde exhibition Vingt Jeunes Peintres de Tradition Française at Galerie Braun in Paris, showcasing artists such as Estève, Lapique, and Pignon. By 1942, he fully embraced abstraction but refrained from adopting the abstract painter label. His first major solo exhibition took place at Galerie Maeght during 1949–1950; Maeght remained his principal dealer thereafter. His work was subsequently exhibited across Bern, Hanover, Zürich, Oslo, among other cities. Retrospectives included shows at Galerie Maeght (1987), Musée Matisse (1988), and Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais (1990), coinciding with the republication of his key theoretical book Le temps de la peinture.

Bazaine’s most notable artistic partnerships occurred within stained glass creation, which connected him closely to contemporary masters specializing in this medium.

Stained glass and mosaic

In 1937, while working at Jean Hébert-Stevens’ glazier workshop, Bazaine produced his first stained glass piece titled Les Instruments de la Passion for a private chapel. There he met Georges Rouault and Georges Braque and began designing church windows. In 1943, collaborating with glazier Marguerite Huré, he created three stained glass windows for Nôtre Dame de Toute Grace church in Assy depicting saints associated with music. These commissions positioned him among leading artists such as Rouault (stained glass), Henri Matisse (murals), Fernand Léger (mosaic), Pierre Bonnard (painting), and Marc Chagall (ceramics).

Father Couturier—a key advocate for modern religious art and influential figure for Matisse and the Rothko Chapel—invited Bazaine to contribute to the 1951 Church of the Sacred Heart project at Audincourt. While Fernand Léger designed the stained glass windows there, Bazaine executed the exterior mosaic and later completed a glazed wall for the baptistery in 1954.

The Eglise de Sacré-Cœur d'Audincourt stands as a major monument of twentieth-century sacred art, partly funded by industrial workers who selected communist artist Léger as lead creator. Bazaine fondly recalled this project: after completing his first front mosaic covering approximately 75 square meters, he went on to produce seven additional mosaics while Léger created an extensive glass brick installation inside. Léger’s forthright personality left a lasting impression on him.

Bazaine continued crafting mosaics for prominent locations including UNESCO headquarters in Paris (1960), Skissernes Museum Lund (1965), Université de Metz Faculty of Sciences (1977), Hôtel de Ville Martigues (1981), Palais du Luxembourg and Cluny-La Sorbonne Metro station in Paris (1985–1987), as well as Mjällby Konstgard Halmstad (1988–1989), alongside significant stained glass series.

His maritime inspiration is evident in stained glass windows located in Finistère: Penguilly Castle (1973), Ty ar Zonj chapel in Locronan (1977), and Madeleine Chapel in Penmarc’h (1979–1981). Among his most renowned works is a series of seven windows themed on Catholic sacraments situated in Saint-Séverin church’s ambulatory in Paris (1964–1969), produced by Bernard Allain who also contributed to the Brittany installations.

Additionally, Bazaine designed monumental tapestries for the Palais de Justice Lille (1969) and Ecole Navale Lanvéoc-Poulmic (1973). Together with Alfred Manessier, he co-founded the Association pour la Défense des Vitraux de France aimed at preserving stained glass heritage. From 1984 to 1988, he directed new window projects at Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Cathedral assembling leading painters and master glaziers. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded Commandeur des Arts et Lettres in 1980.

Between 1993 and 1995, a traveling exhibition displayed Bazaine’s monumental creations. In 1996, he completed an extensive mosaic measuring 15 by 12 meters for Concarneau’s new church and produced glazed windows for Chapelle St Dominique - St Matthieu in Paris along with works on paper for the Aix Festival and a retrospective held at Fribourg.

The year 1997 saw the release of Jean Bazaine, couleurs et mots - entretiens avec Paul Ricœur et Henri Maldiney, summarizing his career coinciding with completion of his monumental mosaic L'Envol de la Liberté on Saint-Dié-des-Vosges’ Mur de la Liberté.

Poetry

During his artistic journey, Bazaine fostered strong connections with a wide array of poets, paying tribute to approximately twenty of them in Jean Bazaine, couleurs et mots (1997). Among those celebrated were Paul Éluard, Abdellatif Laabi, Pierre Lecomte du Noüy, and Eugène Guillevic.

Significant lifelong bonds and artistic collaborations were established with figures such as André Frénaud (whose works were translated by Keith Bosley), Jean Tardieu, and Bazaine’s son Jean-Baptiste de Seynes, who adopted his mother’s surname, Catherine de Seynes-Bazaine.

In 1960, Bazaine created original lithographs to illustrate Raymond Queneau’s monograph on André Frénaud, published by Le Divan Editeur in a limited run of 150 copies.

He died at the age of 96 in Clamart, having spent his final day working on a series of collages. One notable piece from 1995, entitled L'étape dans la clairière, is included in Jean Bazaine, couleurs et mots (1997) and draws inspiration from Frénaud’s poetry cycle from 1966.

References

A Painter's Philosophy - An interview between Jean Bazaine and George Bernier in: The Selective Eye: An anthology of the best from L'ŒIL, the European art magazine. Edited by Georges and Rosamond Bernier. New York Lausanne, Random House 1955
Nello Ponente Peinture Moderne, tendances contemporaines. Paris, Editions d'Art Albert Skira 1960
André Frénaud La Noce Noire (lithography (1946) by Jean Bazaine) in: Pierre Seghers le livre d'or de la poésie française, seconde partie (tome un): de 1940 à 1960 Verviers, Belgique Marabout Université, 1969
Alexander Liberman The Artist in his Studio London, Thames and Hudson 1969

External links