Toulouse. An exhibition dedicated to the work of photographer Jean Dieuzaide to see at the Jacobins
Through Gabriel Kenedi
Published on
On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Jean Dieuzaide, the town hall of Toulouse devote a great exhibition retrospective to this major photographer. And it is in an exceptional place, the Convent of the Jacobins, that Toulouse residents will admire the photographer’s works from Friday, December 4, 2021 to Sunday, March 6, 2022.
More than 200 works and archives
The town hall of Toulouse, which owns most of the Dieuzaide fund, presents more than 200 works and archives, sometimes unpublished, by this talented, demanding and prolific photographer, who has worked tirelessly for almost 60 years, combining commissions – press, industry, publishing and institutions – and personal explorations.
The exhibition offers 148 works and 81 documents, most of which come from the Jean Dieuzaide collection kept in the municipal archives of Toulouse. This exhibition combines both works well known to the public and photographs that are rarely shown, or even never exhibited. While some of these works are icons (Dalí in the water, The Little Girl with the Rabbit, or The Gypsy of Sacromonte), the less explored facets are also highlighted and allow to discover works however selected by the photographer, but which most often remained in his boxes like Homage to Moussorgsky, Dialogue with my in-laws in Tarbes or even Skydiving.
Particular attention is devoted to photographs taken in reportage where Dieuzaide leaves the decisive in suspension and meets the event from a distance.
Audiovisual archives complete this retrospective presented in the refectory of the Couvent des Jacobins.
A great photographer
Born in Grenade-sur-Garonne in 1921, Jean Dieuzaide – then a very young photographer – covered the liberation of Toulouse in August 1944 and managed the following month, hidden in the military ranks, to draw the first official portrait of the General de Gaulle, then head of the provisional government visiting the Pink City.
Under the family pressure which disapproves of this choice of career, he signs his reports under the pseudonym of “Yan”, (Jean in Gascon) his childhood nickname which he keeps until 1971. A real daredevil, he photographs in 1954 a wedding of tightrope walkers, carried on the shoulders of the father of the bride, fifteen meters above the Place du Capitole.
He is also known for having produced a series of portraits, which have remained famous, of Salvador Dalí. He was honored with the Niépce Prize in 1955 and the Nadar Prize in 1961.
Subsequently, this much sought-after photographer – who traveled to many countries around the world – will work to make photography an eminent art and become more than an ambassador. Founding member of the Rencontres Internationales de la Photo d’Arles, he opened in 1974 in Toulouse the Municipal Gallery of the Water Tower, the first museum entirely dedicated to photographic exhibitions which has hosted the greatest signatures under its rule.
Conferences
In addition to the exhibition, which will be visible for four months. A cycle of conferences around the work of Jean Dieuzaide and its different facets will take place in December 2021 and January 2022:
- Jean Dieuzaide, sixty years of photographs
by Françoise Denoyelle, photography historian, curator of the Jean Dieuzaide retrospective in the Jacobins refectory
>> Tuesday December 7 at 6.30 p.m. in the auditorium of the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III - A tour of the work of Jean Dieuzaide through the collections of
the BnF by Dominique Versavel, curator of the photographic collections of the
XXth century, Department of Prints and Photography of the National Library of France.
>> Tuesday January 18 at 6.30 p.m. in the auditorium of the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III - The Dieuzaide collection in the municipal archives by Stéphanie Renard, manager
from this collection at the Toulouse Municipal Archives.
>> Tuesday January 25 at 6.30 p.m. in the auditorium of the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III - Jean Dieuzaide and the Galerie du Château d’Eau, an ever-living utopia by Christian Caujolle, journalist historian of photography, artistic director of the Galerie du Château d’Eau.
>> Tuesday February 1 at 6.30 p.m. in the auditorium of the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III
Practical information
“Jean Dieuzaide, 60 years of photography”
Convent of the Jacobins
Place des Jacobins, allée Maurice Prin (entrance through the church) – 31,000 Toulouse
05 61 22 23 81
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Prices: € 4 full price / € 2.50 reduced price / free for students and under 18s
Has this article been useful to you? Note that you can follow Actu Toulouse in the Mon Actu space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.