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L’Angélus, Spring 2008
2008
Hervé Saint-Hélier
Photography
120 x 180 cm
Lambda print
Hervé Saint-Hélier’s reworking of Jean-François Millet’s iconic painting, The Angelus (1858), shows the silhouettes of the man and woman with their backs to the spectator. The presence of the two children busy playing and the baby that the woman seems to be carrying in her arms cannot fail to recall Salvator Dali’s interpretation of Millet’s painting. Convinced that the two peasant figures were not only praying as the angelus bell rang out, but were meditating over a child’s grave, he persuaded the Louvre to X-ray the canvas in 1963. This revealed the presence of a child’s coffin in the foreground beneath the paint. Millet himself produced several variations of this work that also captivated (and inspired) Van Gogh.
Text : Carole Vantroys.
Translation : Pamela Hargreaves.
Hervé Saint-Hélier’s reworking of Jean-François Millet’s iconic painting, The Angelus (1858), shows the silhouettes of the man and woman with their backs to the spectator. The presence of the two children busy playing and the baby that the woman seems to be carrying in her arms cannot fail to recall Salvator Dali’s interpretation of Millet’s painting. Convinced that the two peasant figures were not only praying as the angelus bell rang out, but were meditating over a child’s grave, he persuaded the Louvre to X-ray the canvas in 1963. This revealed the presence of a child’s coffin in the foreground beneath the paint. Millet himself produced several variations of this work that also captivated (and inspired) Van Gogh.
Text : Carole Vantroys.
Translation : Pamela Hargreaves.
Hervé Saint-Hélier
France
Born in 1969
Born 1969 in Tours, France.
Vit et travaille à Paris.
A self-taught news photographer who gained experience working for the Sipa and Sygma agencies, Saint-Hélier abandoned current events in 1995 to focus on a decidedly more artistic approach. His travels with his camera gave rise to a solo exhibition entitled “Voyage” at the Malborough Gallery, New York, in 2008.
Text : Carole Vantroys.
Translation : Pamela Hargreaves.
Vit et travaille à Paris.
A self-taught news photographer who gained experience working for the Sipa and Sygma agencies, Saint-Hélier abandoned current events in 1995 to focus on a decidedly more artistic approach. His travels with his camera gave rise to a solo exhibition entitled “Voyage” at the Malborough Gallery, New York, in 2008.
Text : Carole Vantroys.
Translation : Pamela Hargreaves.
Artwork of
Hervé Saint-Hélier
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