Samanda Editions Pattou Original Artworks

A kaleidoscope of famous Parisian monuments unfolds before our eyes in Jean Pattou’s fascinating lithograph, "Le Bistro". Representing centuries of French architectural excellence from the medieval Gothic Cathedral of Notre-Dame to the 19th-century Eiffel Tower, Pattou’s fantasy cityscape encompasses many of the best-loved landmarks in Paris plus a few of his own invention.

Appearing to grow directly from the earth, two rows of buildings -with the Pantheon, Invalides and Institut de France dominating one side, and La Madeleine, Opéra, Notre-Dame and Sacré Coeur the other- are connected by the Pont-Neuf, the city’s oldest bridge, spanning the banks of the Seine. The viewer’s eye is dazzled with a festive array of elegant domes, classical columns and pediments, mansard roofs and ornamental statuary, while his memory is challenged with the fun of recognizing each building in its turn.

With ironic realism, Pattou positions a typical neighborhood bistro, which gives his lithograph its title, at a strategic location. In this particular spot, the bistro not only becomes the point of departure for our visual tour encircling Paris’ landmarks but also its final destination. Warmly lit, cozy and inviting, Pattou’s small outdoor café in "Le Bistro" provides the tourist with the luxury of a comfortable chair where he can sip a cup of coffee or glass of wine and review the many sights and experiences of the day.

On a more profound level, Pattou’s pictured bistro celebrates the strong human spirit that has consistently given artistic shape to the city’s enduring structures and breathed life into their inanimate forms.

An architect-turned-artist, Pattou synthesizes in "Le Bistro" a rational understanding of his city’s architectural achievements with his personal, poetic approach to art.

In the interpretative architectural composition "History of Architecture" French printmaker Jean Pattou takes us step-by-step through a visual panorama of the glories of our architectural past.

Beginning with the striking Egyptian pyramid at the left foreground, Pattou leads us across the Roman aqueduct to the Greek temple at the right. As Pattou’s composition continues to zigzag across the river of time to embankments weighty with the familiar landmarks of our history, he alternates his colors from the golden structures glistening at the left to the cool blue-toned buildings at the right. The sides are joined by bridges which literally span the centuries, linking form with form and leading our eye deep into the picture plane to achievements yet to be realized - the futuristic architecture of the 21st and 22nd centuries.

Brilliantly and logically conceived, the lithograph nonetheless retains the romantic poetry that has for millennia characterized our greatest artistic accomplishments because it does not aim to reproduce the buildings exactly, but to capture their spirit. Thus, while we may be able to recognize the outlines of a Roman amphitheater, a Gothic church, a French chateau or a Manhattan skyscraper, it would be difficult in most cases to say precisely which church or skyscraper Pattou is describing. It is this ambiguity as well as the extraordinary intricacy of the drawing that makes "History of Architecture" such a fascinating work of art.

An architect by trade, Pattou was born in France in 1940 and was graduated from the prestigious Ecole d’Architecture de Paris. A practicing architect from 1969-1983, Pattou accepted a teaching position at Lille University in 1983 so that he would be able to devote more of his time to painting and printmaking activities.

Artist/architect Jean Pattou explains that the genesis of "La Porte d’Eau" (The Water Gate) lies in a medieval water gate that still exists in Lille, the northern French city.

Pictured in the print’s distant background, this water gate - the archway spanning the canal - functioned as a portal for boats entering the city through the medieval wall that once entirely circled Lille.

Interestingly, the city was at one time intersected by a series of canals that likened it in appearance to the nearby towns of Bruges and Amsterdam. Even though Lille’s medieval canals have long ago been filled in and replaced by streets, the remaining archway stands as an enduring reminder of the city’s bustling past.

With the water gate of Lille and an imaginary canal as his catalyst, Pattou constructs a cityscape in "La Porte d’Eau" that transcends spatial and temporal boundaries. In this homage to Western architecture, the artist begins our fantasy voyage in the foreground with two human-scaled buildings typical of the Low Countries in the late middle ages. A zigzagging path then guides our eye from these two inviting structures, which are lit from within and from the light filtering through the partial darkness, to an old fortified castle whose colors are more pronounced in the apparent daylight. As we cross back over the canal and observe the tower of classical Greek and Roman temples, the light becomes so bright that it blurs detail and dims natural color, while casting a mysterious glow that reaches to the Baroque and Gothic monuments in the background. Only one feature breaks the print’s ethereal spell, a child’s tricycle in the right foreground, a symbol bringing us back to our own century.

As Pattou’s internationally famous prints are fast becoming collectors' favorites, we urge you to order the fascinating "La Porte d’Eau" without delay.

Architectural Painter
Born in the north of France in 1940, graduated in architecture in Paris. Currently works as an architect and a city planner. Since 1980, has painted and exhibited his paintings and drawings of the cities all around the world.

1977 Dessins Galerie "Flandres", Lille.
1981 Aquarelles Galerie "Storme", Lille.
1982 Galerie Art Public, Paris.
1983 Galerie "Horizon", Bruxelles.
1983 Palais Rihour, Lille.
1984 Galerie du Centre, Paris.
1985 Galerie "Horizon", Bruxelles.
1985 Galerie Cupillard, Grenoble.
1985 Galerie Vincent Calens, Lille.
1985 Ivo Kirschen Fine Art, Art Chicago.
1986 Stockholm Art Fair, Galerie Cupillard.
1986 Galerie des Années Lumières (Park Palace), Monaco.
1986 Art Expo New York, Fine Art Resources.
1986 Art Expo, Florida.
1986 Galerie du Centre, Paris.
1987 Palais de l'Europe, Menton.
1987 Galerie Mischkind, Lille.
1987 Institut Français, Barcelone.
1988 Art Fair, Stockholm.
1988 Galerie Cupillard, St Tropez.
1989 Galerie Archetype, Paris.
1989 ARCO, Madrid.
1989 Institut Français, Kyoto.
1989 Foire Internationale de Barcelone
1989 Galerie 31 - Lille
1990 Galerie Helander - Palm beach - Floride
1991 Hôtel Sully, les Ponts de Paris
1991 Galerie la Fenice - Venise 1992 Galerie Grife Escoda - Barcelone
1992 Arte Feria - Padoue
1992 Villes d'Europe - Arche de la Défense Paris
1992 Paris Caprices Galerie Archetype, Paris
1993 Arte Feria - Vincenza
1993 Hôtel Lutétia - Paris
1994 Arcades de Flandre - Lille
1995 Maison du Nord P de Calais-Paris
1995 Mairie de Paris 8° arrondissement
1996 Institut Français - Florence
1996 Grande Halle - Bruges
1996 Galerie Kare - Istanbul
1996 Galerie Grife Escoda - Barcelone
1996 Mairie de Paris 18ème arrondissement
1997 Fondation Septentrion - Marcq-en-Baroeul
1997 Mairie de Lisbonne
1997 Daley Civic Center - Chicago
1997 Alliance Française - New York
1998 Galeria de Arte, Horrach Moya, Palma de Mallorca, Espagne
1998 Musée de Menton
1998 Hommage à F. Mansart au Château de Maisons Laffitte
1998 Galerie le Carré - St Tropez
1998 Galerie Grifé Escoda - Barcelone
1998 Maison Mansart - Paris
1998 Galerie Paule Claeyssens - Euralille
1999 Viaduc du pont Bir Hakeim - Paris
1999 Salon des antiquaires - Marcq-en-Baroeul
2000 Mairie de Paris 13ème arrondissement
2000 Galerie Geneviève Godar - Lille

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Four Rare & Original Lithographs by Jean Pattou.

Jean Pattou