Jacques Monory
Jacques Monory (1924–2018) is one of the major representatives of Narrative Figuration (Figuration narrative), a movement identified by critics as early as 1964, running parallel to American Pop Art. His highly complex body of work has sparked the interest and analysis of numerous intellectuals. Monory asserted a fundamentally dramatic vision of existence, fueled by current events—crimes, violence, attacks—which he transposed into paintings filled with a muted, barely amplified tension. Although shot through with fragmented and unsettling visions, his works allow a form of paradoxical tenderness to surface. First and foremost a painter, Monory insisted on the sensitive dimension of his practice, stating that his painting “is not dry.” Marked by a deliberately restricted palette, dominated by the blue that became his signature, his work stands apart from any conceptual radicalism. Committed to narration and fiction, he composes enigmatic images resembling film stills, suspended within a narrative that is never fully revealed.
Works
Peintures à vendre N°8
Biography
Jacques Monory (1924–2018) is one of the major representatives of Narrative Figuration (Figuration narrative), a movement identified by critics as early as 1964, running parallel to American Pop Art. His highly complex body of work has sparked the interest and analysis of numerous intellectuals. Monory asserted a fundamentally dramatic vision of existence, fueled by current events—crimes, violence, attacks—which he transposed into paintings filled with a muted, barely amplified tension.
Jacques Monory (1924–2018) is one of the major representatives of Narrative Figuration (Figuration narrative), a movement identified by critics as early as 1964, running parallel to American Pop Art. His highly complex body of work has sparked the interest and analysis of numerous intellectuals. Monory asserted a fundamentally dramatic vision of existence, fueled by current events—crimes, violence, attacks—which he transposed into paintings filled with a muted, barely amplified tension.
Although shot through with fragmented and unsettling visions, his works allow a form of paradoxical tenderness to surface. First and foremost a painter, Monory insisted on the sensitive dimension of his practice, stating that his painting “is not dry.” Marked by a deliberately restricted palette, dominated by the blue that became his signature, his work stands apart from any conceptual radicalism. Committed to narration and fiction, he composes enigmatic images resembling film stills, suspended within a narrative that is never fully revealed.
Exhibitions
Videos
Vidéo
Narratives
Career
Solo exhibitions
2018
Jacques Monory, Richard Taittinger Gallery, New York, USA
2016
Monory Tragédies, Château du Val Fleury, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Monory – From Blue to Soul, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
2015
My Cinema / Jacques Monory, Fondation Stampfli, Sitges, Catalonia, Spain
2014
Jacques Monory, Fonds Hélène et Édouard Leclerc pour la culture, Landerneau, France
Memento Mori, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
Jacques Monory, L’Aspirateur – Contemporary Art Space, Narbonne, France
2013
Around Paris Polar, 13th District City Hall, Paris, France
Monory, Galerie Nathalie Clouard, Rennes, France
Jean-François Lyotard and Jacques Monory: Screens, Space Studios, London, UK
2012
Monory / Large Formats, Galerie IUFM Confluence(s), Lyon, France
Monory / Small Formats, Galerie Anne-Marie and Roland Pallade, Lyon, France
2011
Monory Photographer, Galerie RueVisconti, Paris, France
Images, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria
Monory, the Orangerie, Parc Raspail, Cachan, France
2010
Monory, Librairie Saint-Hubert, Galeries du Roi, Brussels, Belgium
Escape, Fortress of Salses, Salses-le-Château, France
Monory, Maison Elsa Triolet-Aragon, Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines, France
2009
Tigre, Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
2008
Photo Novel, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
Jacques Monory, 72/08, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
Roman Noir, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2007
Follies of Women, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria
Souvenir, Espace Jean Legendre, Théâtre de Compiègne, France
2006
The 1970s, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
2005
Detour, Musée du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
Color, Galerie Laurent Strouk, Paris, France
W Shop Windows, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria
Multiples, Domaine de Lescombes, Eysines, France
2004
I Lived Another Life, Fondation Claudine et Jean-Marc Salomon, Alex, France
Shopping, Maison des Arts de Malakoff, France
Monophony, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Art Paris, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France
2003
Extracts, Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany
Nocture, Espace Paul Rebeyrolle, Eymoutiers, France
2002
Thirty-Six Kisses, Two Tremors, One Enigma, Château Priory of Montsempron-Libos, France
The Night, Galerie Antonio Pratès, Lisbon, Portugal
The Imaginary Life of Jonc’Erouas Cym, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria
Kisses, Paintings and Multiples, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Paris, France
2000
Tremor, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, FIAC, Paris, France
1999
Monory, Museum of Fine Arts, Dole, France
The Night, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
Ex-crime, Museum of Fine Arts, Angers, France
Monory, Regional School of Fine Arts, Aître Saint-Maclou, Rouen, France
Documents, Palais des Congrès, Paris, France
1998
Epilogue, Maison d’Art Contemporain Le Petit Chailloux, Fresnes, France
Monory, Sainte-Croix Museum, Les Sables-d’Olonne, France
Monory, Museum of Fine Arts, Chartres, France
1997
Kuldi (Cold), Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
Enigma 3, Galerie Nová Síň, Prague, Czech Republic
Polar and Paintings, Arthaud Bookstore, Grenoble, France
1996
Enigmas 1, Galerie du Théâtre, Cherbourg, France
Enigmas 2, Galerie Le Grand Café, Délit d’Encre Festival, Saint-Nazaire, France
Ciné-enigma, Villa Tamaris, La Seyne-sur-Mer, France
1995
Gardening, Champclause, France
1994
The Elements of Disaster, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
1992
Supplements, Galerie Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland
French Pavilion, Seville World Expo, Spain
1991
The Last Painting, Galerie Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland
Black, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
1990
Come-back, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
Nightmare, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
Sade – Revolution – Impossible, Cultural Center of Aosta, Italy
1989
The Painter (with Peter Stampfli), Cordeliers Abbey, Châteauroux, France
The Painter bis, Galerie Daniel Lelong, Paris, France
Large Formats in Blue, Pink and Black, Galerie La Défense Art 4, France
Gardening, Galerie Le Miroir d’Encre, Brussels, Belgium
1988
The Painter, Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste, Calais, France
The Media Library and Crime Fiction, Calais Media Library, France
Projection, Saint-Roch Museum, Issoudun, France
1987
The Thief, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
1984
Toxic, ARC – Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, France
Once Again Appearing on the Terrace, Andata/Ritorno and Pierre Huber Galleries, Geneva, Switzerland
Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Screenprint Exhibition, La Chasse au Snark Bookshop-Gallery, Paris, France
1983
Dynamite, Maison de la Culture, Grenoble, France
1982
Chartreuse Museum, Douai, France
Maison de la Culture, Nevers, France
Museum of Fine Arts, Pau, France
Like a Plane Without Her…, Galerie Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland
1981
Skies, Nebulae and Galaxies, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1980
Galerie Maeght, Barcelona, Spain
Monory 3, Lunds Konsthall, Lund, Sweden
1979
Monory – Four Times, Maison de la Culture, Rennes, France
Meeting with Jean-François Lyotard, School of Architecture of Nancy / Galerie Art Actuel, France
1978
Technicolor, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
Technicolor, Galerie Maeght, Zurich, Switzerland
1977
Frozen Operas, Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Incurable Images / Frozen Operas, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi, Belgium
Tremors (publication with Jean-François Lyotard), Galerie de Larcos, Paris, France
Homage to Caspar David Friedrich, Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
1976
Frozen Operas, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1975
Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk, Denmark
Galerie Maeght, Zurich, Switzerland
Souvenir Antoine and Jacques 1973–1975 – Death Valley, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
Europalia 75, France
1974
Paris Autumn Festival: The Global Catalogue of Incurable Images, CNAC rue Berryer, Paris, France
1973
Velvet Jungle, Galleria Arte Borgogna, Milan, Italy
Galleria S. Michele, Brescia, Italy
Municipal Cultural Center, Villeparisis, France
1972
Velvet Jungle / New York, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Museum of Art and Industry, Saint-Étienne, France
Neue Galerie, Aachen, Germany
1971
Galerie Klang, Cologne, Germany
Monory, catalogue 1968–1971, ARC – Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, France
Velvet Jungle / New York, ARC – Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, France
Velvet Jungle / New York, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
1969
Galleria Il Punto, Turin, Italy
Studio Arte Condoti 85, Rome, Italy
Galleria Forni, Bologna, Italy
1968
Murders, Galerie Blumenthal-Mommaton, Paris, France
1967
Schwarz Gallery, Milan, Italy
1965
Galerie H. Legendre, Paris, France
1959
Galerie La Hune, Paris
1958
Paintings and Collages, Galerie l’Entracte, Lausanne, Switzerland
1955
Galerie Kléber, Paris, France
1953
Galerie Drouant-David, Paris, France
Solo exhibitions
2018
Jacques Monory, Richard Taittinger Gallery, New York, USA
2016
Monory Tragédies, Château du Val Fleury, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Monory – From Blue to Soul, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
2015
My Cinema / Jacques Monory, Fondation Stampfli, Sitges, Catalonia, Spain
2014
Jacques Monory, Fonds Hélène et Édouard Leclerc pour la culture, Landerneau, France
Memento Mori, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
Jacques Monory, L’Aspirateur – Contemporary Art Space, Narbonne, France
2013
Around Paris Polar, 13th District City Hall, Paris, France
Monory, Galerie Nathalie Clouard, Rennes, France
Jean-François Lyotard and Jacques Monory: Screens, Space Studios, London, UK
2012
Monory / Large Formats, Galerie IUFM Confluence(s), Lyon, France
Monory / Small Formats, Galerie Anne-Marie and Roland Pallade, Lyon, France
2011
Monory Photographer, Galerie RueVisconti, Paris, France
Images, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria
Monory, the Orangerie, Parc Raspail, Cachan, France
2010
Monory, Librairie Saint-Hubert, Galeries du Roi, Brussels, Belgium
Escape, Fortress of Salses, Salses-le-Château, France
Monory, Maison Elsa Triolet-Aragon, Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines, France
2009
Tigre, Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
2008
Photo Novel, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
Jacques Monory, 72/08, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
Roman Noir, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2007
Follies of Women, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria
Souvenir, Espace Jean Legendre, Théâtre de Compiègne, France
2006
The 1970s, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
2005
Detour, Musée du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
Color, Galerie Laurent Strouk, Paris, France
W Shop Windows, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria
Multiples, Domaine de Lescombes, Eysines, France
2004
I Lived Another Life, Fondation Claudine et Jean-Marc Salomon, Alex, France
Shopping, Maison des Arts de Malakoff, France
Monophony, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Art Paris, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France
2003
Extracts, Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany
Nocture, Espace Paul Rebeyrolle, Eymoutiers, France
2002
Thirty-Six Kisses, Two Tremors, One Enigma, Château Priory of Montsempron-Libos, France
The Night, Galerie Antonio Pratès, Lisbon, Portugal
The Imaginary Life of Jonc’Erouas Cym, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Vienna, Austria
Kisses, Paintings and Multiples, Galerie Ernst Hilger, Paris, France
2000
Tremor, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, FIAC, Paris, France
1999
Monory, Museum of Fine Arts, Dole, France
The Night, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
Ex-crime, Museum of Fine Arts, Angers, France
Monory, Regional School of Fine Arts, Aître Saint-Maclou, Rouen, France
Documents, Palais des Congrès, Paris, France
1998
Epilogue, Maison d’Art Contemporain Le Petit Chailloux, Fresnes, France
Monory, Sainte-Croix Museum, Les Sables-d’Olonne, France
Monory, Museum of Fine Arts, Chartres, France
1997
Kuldi (Cold), Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
Enigma 3, Galerie Nová Síň, Prague, Czech Republic
Polar and Paintings, Arthaud Bookstore, Grenoble, France
1996
Enigmas 1, Galerie du Théâtre, Cherbourg, France
Enigmas 2, Galerie Le Grand Café, Délit d’Encre Festival, Saint-Nazaire, France
Ciné-enigma, Villa Tamaris, La Seyne-sur-Mer, France
1995
Gardening, Champclause, France
1994
The Elements of Disaster, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
1992
Supplements, Galerie Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland
French Pavilion, Seville World Expo, Spain
1991
The Last Painting, Galerie Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland
Black, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
1990
Come-back, Galerie Sonia Zannettacci, Geneva, Switzerland
Nightmare, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
Sade – Revolution – Impossible, Cultural Center of Aosta, Italy
1989
The Painter (with Peter Stampfli), Cordeliers Abbey, Châteauroux, France
The Painter bis, Galerie Daniel Lelong, Paris, France
Large Formats in Blue, Pink and Black, Galerie La Défense Art 4, France
Gardening, Galerie Le Miroir d’Encre, Brussels, Belgium
1988
The Painter, Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste, Calais, France
The Media Library and Crime Fiction, Calais Media Library, France
Projection, Saint-Roch Museum, Issoudun, France
1987
The Thief, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
1984
Toxic, ARC – Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, France
Once Again Appearing on the Terrace, Andata/Ritorno and Pierre Huber Galleries, Geneva, Switzerland
Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Screenprint Exhibition, La Chasse au Snark Bookshop-Gallery, Paris, France
1983
Dynamite, Maison de la Culture, Grenoble, France
1982
Chartreuse Museum, Douai, France
Maison de la Culture, Nevers, France
Museum of Fine Arts, Pau, France
Like a Plane Without Her…, Galerie Andata/Ritorno, Geneva, Switzerland
1981
Skies, Nebulae and Galaxies, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1980
Galerie Maeght, Barcelona, Spain
Monory 3, Lunds Konsthall, Lund, Sweden
1979
Monory – Four Times, Maison de la Culture, Rennes, France
Meeting with Jean-François Lyotard, School of Architecture of Nancy / Galerie Art Actuel, France
1978
Technicolor, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
Technicolor, Galerie Maeght, Zurich, Switzerland
1977
Frozen Operas, Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Incurable Images / Frozen Operas, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi, Belgium
Tremors (publication with Jean-François Lyotard), Galerie de Larcos, Paris, France
Homage to Caspar David Friedrich, Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
1976
Frozen Operas, Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
1975
Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk, Denmark
Galerie Maeght, Zurich, Switzerland
Souvenir Antoine and Jacques 1973–1975 – Death Valley, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
Europalia 75, France
1974
Paris Autumn Festival: The Global Catalogue of Incurable Images, CNAC rue Berryer, Paris, France
1973
Velvet Jungle, Galleria Arte Borgogna, Milan, Italy
Galleria S. Michele, Brescia, Italy
Municipal Cultural Center, Villeparisis, France
1972
Velvet Jungle / New York, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Museum of Art and Industry, Saint-Étienne, France
Neue Galerie, Aachen, Germany
1971
Galerie Klang, Cologne, Germany
Monory, catalogue 1968–1971, ARC – Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, France
Velvet Jungle / New York, ARC – Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, France
Velvet Jungle / New York, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
1969
Galleria Il Punto, Turin, Italy
Studio Arte Condoti 85, Rome, Italy
Galleria Forni, Bologna, Italy
1968
Murders, Galerie Blumenthal-Mommaton, Paris, France
1967
Schwarz Gallery, Milan, Italy
1965
Galerie H. Legendre, Paris, France
1959
Galerie La Hune, Paris
1958
Paintings and Collages, Galerie l’Entracte, Lausanne, Switzerland
1955
Galerie Kléber, Paris, France
1953
Galerie Drouant-David, Paris, France
Group Exhibitions (Selection)
2026
Narratives, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
2017
The French Spirit, Countercultures (1969–1989), Maison Rouge, Paris, France
2016
International Contemporary Art Exhibition Peru–France 2016, Lima, Peru
The Hangings of the Parliament of Brittany, Museum of Fine Arts, Rennes, France
The Critical Image Today (with Monory, Klasen, Rancillac, Seguí, Télémaque, Velickovic), Lyon, France
2015
Return to the Abyss – Art in the Face of Genocide, Montbéliard, France
The Resistance of Images, Brussels, Belgium
Philippe Piguet Collection, Annecy-le-Vieux, France
Futures of the City of Stars (Matisse, Miró, Calder…), Marseille, France
It Is Night, Villa Tamaris, France
Their Landscape, Geneva, Switzerland
Blue, Yellow, Red – Color Liberated, Le Mans, France
2014
Faces (Picasso, Magritte, Warhol), Marseille, France
50th Anniversary of Fondation Maeght, France
From Giacometti to Tàpies, France
With and Without Painting, MAC/VAL, France
2013
The Adventures of Truth, Fondation Maeght, France
Gobelins by Nature, Paris, France
Think Cinema, Meymac, France
2012
Extra-Large (Centre Pompidou), Monaco
Contemporary French Painting, Perm, Russia
2011
Bestiary, Galerie Maeght, Paris
Nuit Blanche, Paris
2010
Never the Same River, Camden Arts Centre, London
Hyper Real, MUMOK, Vienna
Nevermore, MAC/VAL, France
2009
From Color to Line: 40 Years of Figuration, France
In-Finitum, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice
2008
Art and Cinema, Paris
Les Misérables, Maison de Victor Hugo, Paris
2007
Narrative Figuration (1960s–70s), Lille
Stardust, MAC/VAL
2006
Narrative Figuration in Public Collections, France
2005
Cinema and Painting, Centre Pompidou (traveling to China)
2004
Narrative Figuration, Museum of Modern Art of Paris
2003
Cinema in Contemporary Art, Strasbourg
2002
Paris, Capital of Arts 1900–1968, Royal Academy (London), Guggenheim (Bilbao)
2001
Pop Years, Centre Pompidou, Paris
2000
Reopening of Centre Pompidou, Paris
Narrative Figuration, traveling exhibition
1999
I Love Pop, Vienna
1998
Art and Crime, Blois
1997
The Sixties: The Utopia Years, Brighton
1996
100 Painters 1945–1975, UNESCO, Paris
1995
History Painting, FRAC PACA
1994
The American Quarter Hour, France
1993
Kurt Schwitters, Paris
1992
Critical Figurations 1965–1975, Lyon
1991
Figuration in the 1960s, Paris
1990
Berlin–Paris 1970–1990, Germany
1989
200 Years of the French Revolution, Berlin
1988
French Figurative Painting, Mexico
1987
Late 1960s, France
1986
Venice Biennale, Italy
1985
Style and Chaos, Paris
1984
Art in France, Bologna
1983
Art in France 1960–1980
1982
Aspects of Realism in France
1981
Deserts, France
1980
Figures of Confinement, Lyon
1979
Realities, Nantes
1978
Figuration, Grenoble