Galerie Nadin EN

Synthesis of an exchange with :

Jean-Michel Alberola and André Queffurus

Sébastien Nadin was born in Pau and spent his childhood in Bordeaux, in a multicultural family where painting and sculpture were appreciated and practiced. Very early on, the young Nadin became familiar with the world of art, and was immersed in the paintings of the masters Léonard Estrade, his great-grand-uncle, a wine merchant in the Bordeaux region, collected with passion. So many masterpieces were acquired in Montparnasse in the 1930s! with a predilection for the painters of the Etoile such as Picasso, Jesters, Dufy, Marquet, Derain, etc. Thus, one can easily imagine that this proximity to beauty gave birth to Sébastien Nadin’s vocation. This could have remained a teenager’s dream. However, this irrepressible desire has never ceased to animate him as an artist. And it is through his encounters and his life that he continues to explore, experiment and invest in the unlimited field of creation.

After his schooling in Sceaux (92), Nadin entered the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris. He graduated in 1997 with his watercolor project on paper « Vache solitaire » (170 x 50 cm). He completed his training in the workshops of painters Philippe Lejeune and André Queffurus. Imbued with the style of his masters, the painter seeks his own pictorial language, while not hiding the influence of the great figures of the history of painting: Velasquez, Raphael, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Balthus, Bacon. But he cannot forget Queffurus for whom he has a particular affection, a memory of his years of apprenticeship which mark his work and his poetry.

In his early years, Nadin exhibited in the galleries of the rue de Seine, including the famous Galerie Fournier. And within the galleries Peinture fraîche and Studio de l’image, Nadin participated in group exhibitions, notably with the painter and friend Jean-Noêl Selve. He is seen at the Salon des Indépendants, an essential event for obtaining recognition and consecration. He also shows his work in fairs (Art3F…) and at the Fondation Cartier for contemporary art.

However, Sébastien Nadin showed early on a taste for independence and calm, hence his desire to develop his career on the fringe of official circuits. Thus, he paints mostly on commission for private collectors in Ile-de-France and Burgundy. However, a proposal for an exhibition in the heart of the Panthéon-Sorbonne University, synonymous with erudition and history, made him accept the challenge of painting large formats, relentlessly, for a year.

Georges Haddad, President of the University of Paris I, is planning this event in February 2020 at the Soufflot Gallery within the prestigious university. The exhibition « Painting in the Digital Age » will mark a turning point in the painter’s career, that of maturity. For the public, it will be an opportunity to discover about thirty paintings during one month.

In this momentum, and despite the period not very conducive to public presentations, the painter joins, in a joint project, La Nacelle Art Vivant, which presents « L’Exposition de poche » for the first time in Bordeaux. The theme of this event in news where culture is under attack, is obvious. the artistic commitment. Nadin adheres with enthusiasm. This exhibition is original. Indeed, we can see about forty works of very different periods and styles. As a bonus, the creation of a children’s range at the initiative of Marie Grommier led to four eyes with the painter.

The ambition of this exhibition is to highlight a painting full of sensuality, energy and vitality. It also aims to highlight the singular pictorial personality of the artist. So many elements that distinguish him from the dominant concerns of the current era.

Our conviction is that this gap participates today in the abundance of the pictorial creation to come. It is also the quality and the force of conviction of the work of Sebastien Nadin, the generosity and the tenacity of Marie Grommier which carry this company.

Only the bonds of trust and complicity between the different actors and partners can make it possible to discover to a broad public certain figures of the art currently. The « Pocket Exhibition » proves it in a brilliant way.