ATELIER JEAN DA MILANO (1928-2017)

Thursday April 17th at 7pm

Workshop sale JEAN DA MILANO (1928-2017)

Indoor and live (Drouot and Interenchères)

Exhibition : Friday April 4 to Thursday April 17

(opening hours Tuesday to Friday: 10am-6pm and Saturday: 10am-1pm)

Auction fees: 25.2% incl. VAT

(additional charges apply for bids placed online: +1.8% incl. VAT via Drouot and +3.6% incl. VAT via Interenchères)

Payment of lots: Payment must be made within 10 days of the sale. Failure to do so will result in the buyer being declared a "bad payer" on the auction platform used and/or on TEMIS (unpaid items file).

Withdrawal of lots:

- Pick-ups are by appointment ONLY and are possible from Tuesday to Friday between 10am and 6pm and on Saturday between 10am and 1pm. No prizes will be delivered without prior appointment.

- Please note that lots not collected within 10 days of the sale will be subject to a daily storage fee of 6 euros (incl. VAT).

- For withdrawals made by a third party, a power of attorney must be sent to us by e-mail, stating the name and surname of the person in charge of the withdrawal. This person must present himself/herself, by appointment only, with his/her identity card and your slip (printed or by telephone). The same applies to withdrawals via Cocolis.

Shipment of lots:

To request a quote, please contact :

MBE Cagnes sur Mer (mbe008@mbefrance.fr)

The Packengers (hello@thepackengers.com)

Jean da Milano (1928-2017)

Born and died in Nice, Jean Da Milano (1928-2017) was a painter and sculptor whose work, both abstract and surrealist, bears witness to his constant evolution as a self-taught artist.

Born into an artistic family, Da Milano's interest in drawing and painting began at an early age. In the 1950s, while working in the building and civil engineering sector, he devoted his spare time to his passion for art. His artistic career began with figurative painting, where he first explored the theme of landscape. However, from 1965 onwards, his work took a turn, marked by a gradual abandonment of figuration in favor of more abstract compositions, inspired by quasi-cosmic forms and structures. At the same time, he joined the Association des arts plastiques méditerranéens (APM), an important collective for his artistic development.

1959 was marked by his marriage to Rosalie Delucis, with whom he had two children, while continuing to develop his artistic practice. This turn towards abstraction became clearer in the early 1970s, thanks in particular to his meeting with the painter and writer André Verdet, whose influence was to prove decisive. It was Verdet who, in 1977, enabled him to organize his first solo exhibition at the Musée de Saint-Paul-de-Vence, a key step in the recognition of his work. On this occasion, Verdet wrote of Da Milano that his work was "of great richness, and if he had the possibility of devoting himself totally to his art, he would have a place among the greatest names in contemporary art."

Beyond this first exhibition, Jean Da Milano saw his work develop through other highlights. In 1981, he held a personal exhibition at Nice-Côte d'Azur airport, a symbolic venue that testified to the growing recognition of his work. In 1982, he won an important distinction at the 195th Salon des artistes français, where he was one of 20 artists selected by Charles Jourdanet to exhibit in the Provence-Côte d'Azur room of the Grand Palais in Paris, as part of the "Art in the Provinces of France" exhibition. The following year, in 1983, he won the silver medal at the Art Expo in New York, an international recognition of his work.

As the years went by, his exhibitions multiplied. In 1987, he took part in the "80/80 des Mutuelles de France" exhibition at Acropolis in Nice, alongside numerous artists from the École de Nice, including Arman, Ben, César, Albert Chubac, Juan Miró and Sacha Sosno. The following year, he presented a solo show at Acropolis, then in 1989, he exhibited at Galerie Isis in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. In 1992, a retrospective of his artistic career was organized at Nice's Golden Gallery, retracing his achievements from 1970 to 1992.

The 1990s also marked his exploration of new techniques, having gone through periods ranging from gestural abstraction to metaphysical surrealism, it was finally with the technique of crumpled paper collage on canvas that he achieved the synthesis of his art. With this ultimate process, he achieved the culmination of his artistic language. Throughout his career, Jean Da Milano has never ceased to seek new ways of expressing his vision of the world, a world where abstraction meets matter and color, in a constant quest for meaning.

His work, marked by continuous evolution and multiple influences, is today part of the contemporary art landscape, and his passion for art remains an example of dedication and unceasing research.