René JULIEN

Overview

L'Envol / Flying (Monumental), 2011

"A sculpture is a motionless momentum able to bewitch the present time."

- Jacques Salomé

• René Julien has been rapidly recognized as a master. In this respect, he has been nominated as a professor in Fine Arts Academy in Liege (Belgium) at age of 25. The artist has won numerous valuable awards and honors.

• What is striking in the plastic work of René Julien, is the eternal elegance of his characters, the exceptional grace of the body and its movements, the ethereal look of their silhouette, light weight and way of being affected by light. He clearly loves women in every aspects.

• René Julien leads us each time to marvel at the freedom with which he offers us the momentum of a body in its full nudity, the liveliness of a sketched gesture, the soft and silky of an unexpected attitude, contemplation serene of a joyful intimacy, the awakening of a reverie of love, the fervor of a call. It is beyond appearances that he invites us to see, feel and hear. We feel it when we pass by the sculptures of this artist, when we let their vibrations reach us, when we linger, surprised, amazed by the density of their presence and the impact of their trace in us.

• René Julien reminds us of the Renaissance artist in the sense that it expresses universally his need for creativity and beauty and that whatever may be his various creations, they still represent the basic features of its identity. This is true for objects than for a purely visual language and a tangible expression that evokes a single bound form and substance. His characters express a discreet but nonetheless real emotion, a concrete attitude, a simple presence that by the grace and the evidence of their occurrence strike, fascinate, disturb and intrigue. The sculpture speaks for itself, it seems at first, until we found that many of the elements and attributes illustrate this evidence, the complement, the sublime and create an idyllic atmosphere.

VIEW RENÉ JULIEN HOMAGE (RAMATUELLE)

René Julien (Publication 2021)

Biography

Belgian artist died at 79 years-old in his "Chateau Vert" in Cavaillon

Notable Public Acquisitions & Prizes

1937: born in Hollogne-sur-Pierres (Liege Province), BELGIUM

1951 -1957: he studied in Fine Arts Academy of Liège, BELGIUM

1960 -1965: he was a professor in Fine Arts Academy of Liège, BELGIUM

1969: he was director in Fine Arts Academy of Brussels, BELGIUM

Finally, René Julien was appointed as inspector at the Commission of Plastic Arts with the French Community in Belgium

• NOTABLE ACQUISITIONS:

2020:

- "The Muses / Les Egeries", a set of 8 monumental sculptures,

Huawei company, Shenzhen, CHINA

2015:

- "Dream's Breath / Le souffle de Rêve", monumental sculpture,

Belgian Federal Government, Palais d'Egmont, Brussels, BELGIUM

2012:

- "The Return / Le Revenir", monumental couple sculpture,

Victoria Station, London, UK

1996-1998:

- "The Commuters / les Navetteuses", a set of 2 monumental sculptures,

Brussels International Airport, BELGIUM

- "The Muses / les Egeries", a set of 8 monumental sculptures,

the European Communities, Brussels, BELGIUM

- "Valérie with Her Hoop / Valérie au Cerceau",

the Château de la Hulpe, la Hulpe, BELGIUM

- "Girls Playing", (2m high),

AXA Insurances, Brussels, BELGIUM

1991-95:

- "Wallonia in Flight / L’Envol de la Wallonie", monumental sculpture (5 m. High) ,

the Walloon government, Liège, BELGIUM

1985-90:

- Monumental sculpture

the Amnesty International room of the Parliament, Brussels, BELGIUM

1977:

- Monumental sculpture, a 3-meter weather vane

the Sports and Nautical Center of Butgenbach, BELGIUM

VIEW HUAWAI NOTABLE ACQUISITION

• MAJOR PRIZES :

- Resistance literary prize, BELGIUM

- Silver-gilt medal of honour by Government of Belgium, BELGIUM
- Order of the Arts and Letters, FRANCE

- Godecharle prize, BELGIULM

- Ransy Putzes prize

- Antoine Watteau prize, FRANCE

- Rosette for the Arts, Sciences and Letters, FRANCE

• EXHIBITIONS:

Art Thema is the worldwide exclusvie gallery (and the only one) representing the works of René Julien permenantly over 40 years.

Our major exhibitions in 2021:

- "Timeless", group exhibition, Art Thema Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

- "Hommage of René Julien", Last 18 Monumental Sculptures,

Ramatuelle, Château des Marres, Cabane Bambou, France

- Art Up Lille, Lille, France

- "Blooming", group exhibition, Art Thema Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

- "Together", group exhibition, Art Thema Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

VIEW RENÉ JULIEN RETROSPECTIVE

2020: "Le Off des Galeries Art Up", Galerie Septentrion, Lille, FRANCE

2016:

Large retrospective (paintings, sculptures, jewelry, ..) with an introduction of Jacques Bredael, Art Thema Gallery, Brussels, BELGIUM

2013

- Citadelle Domain, Ménerbes, FRANCE

- Tire-Bouchon museum, Ménerbes, FRANCE

- Maison de la truffe, Ménerbes, FRANCE

2011-2012:

- Royal International Club, Château Sainte Anne (lounges & gardens), Brussels, BELGIUM

- Château de Bousval, Genappe, BEGLIUM

- Various contemporary art fairs and permanence in different European galleries

2009-2010:

- Royal Galleries of St Hubert, with Art Thema Gallery, Brussels, BELGIUM

- Etterbeek square and gardens, Brussels, BELGIUM

2008:

- Keukenhof Estate and Spring Garden, HOLLAND

- Various contemporary art fairs and permanence in different European galleries

2006-2007:

- Cafmeyer gallery and “One Man Show” on the dykes of the coast, Knokke, BELGIUM

-Campredon Museum & Maison René Char, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue - FRANCE

1996-2006:

- Various contemporary art fairs and permanence in different European galleries

- "The Genius of the Galleries", creation of the sculpture for the 150th anniversary of the Galleries of the Kings and Queens, Brussels, BELGIUM

- Creation of an original color lithograph for the Belgian Olympic riding team and a prestigious medal for international jumping

René Julien was an artist who used different media to express his art : frescos, stined glass, decorative panels, jewels, drawings, oil paintings and bronze sculptures. The rhythm animates his work in various ways in the sign language of girls and young women who reveal their identity and emotion of the moment thanks to their attitude and tension of their bodies. It is also revealed in its theme and the extent of his creativity.

Figures René Julien dancing, freed from the laws of gravity. Yet they remain human beings with slender fingers fumble with elegant feet touching the ground as if they were about to rise. They have lips that speak and a body bearing traces of ethereal existence. They embody the tangible presence of the left in a long movement gloom of earthly existence. His figures are a dream you can touch. Love is a pace exceeding the reality and we find obvious, when we want to live a moment the artist’s world.

René Julien (Publication 2021)

Video