François Fiedler

Francois Fiedler, Untitled, from XXe Siecle, 1960

1960

François Fiedler was born in Kassa, Hungary in 1921. He started at a young age by painting academic portraits and copying the grandmasters of the past. After his university studies, he enrolled in the Fine Arts Academy of Budapest. At the age of 25, in 1946, Fiedler moved to Paris. It is during this period immediately after the war, that his work started evolving towards abstraction, he practiced a gestural painting in college and his first solo exhibitions got organized. He also participated in group exhibitions such as the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and the Salon de Mai. Fiedler’s friend Joan Miro introduced him to Aimé Maeght, also to Braque and Calder, following the example of Tàpies, Ubac and Tal-Coat, Fiedler becomes one of the artists in the circle who gravitates towards the famous gallery owner. This assured him numerous exhibitions. During 1959–74, four editions of the magazine Derrière le Mirror were entirely dedicated to him. Painting always remained his principal means of expression, Fiedler experimented for several years with etching. Stamping his destiny, he achieved an original style, relief that added a particular dramatic intensity to his work. The magic alchemy that came out of his engraving is allied to an esthetic approach that is extremely rigorous that nourished Fiedler and is proof of his questioning. That became a departure point of a reflection of the singular and the multiple, of the notion of identity, which is fundamental to his work. During these diverse periods, Fiedler played with the unusualness of his style. The artist illustrated diverse works such as St. John of the Cross, Hercules and Claude Ollier. He worked for more than 2 years on 35 etchings for the Illustrations of the Evangeline According to St. Matthew, but the publication of this work was compromised by the death of Aimé Maeght in 1981. Fielder remained unrecognized despite the importance of his work.