Clergue, Lucien (Georges) 1934-

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CLERGUE, Lucien (Georges) 1934-

PERSONAL: Born August 14, 1934, in Arles, France; son of Etienne (an accountant) and Jeanne (a grocer; maiden name, Grangeon) Clergue; married Yolanda Wartel (president of Fondation Vincent van Gogh), January 10, 1963; children: Anne, Olivia. Ethnicity: "French." Education: University of Provence, doctorate in photography, 1979. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home—17 rue Aristide Brand, B.P. 84, 13632 Arles Cedex, France; fax: 33-4-90966081. Agent—John Stevenson Gallery, 338 West 23rd St., New York, NY 10011. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Photographer and author. Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France, founding member, 1970, vice president, 1986; Arles Festival, Arles, artistic director, 1971-75; University of Provence, Marseille, France, instructor, 1976-78; New

School for Social Research, New York, NY, instructor, 1983-84; Arles Festival, artistic director, 1986-88. University of California—Riverside, instructor at Nude Photography Workshop at California Museum of Photography, 1997. Director of films and television specials. Exhibitions: Work included in individual shows at galleries, including Kunstgewerbe Museum, Zurich, Switzerland, 1958, 1963; Galerie Montaigne, Paris, France, 1959; Musée des Beaux-Arts, 1962, 1971, 1973; Munchner Stadt Museum, Munich, West Germany (now Germany), 1964; Archives départementales, Grenoble, Switzerland, 1966; Galerie Moderne at Brentano's, New York, NY, 1967; Galerie Madoura, Cannes, France, 1968; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden, 1969; Art Institute of Chicago, 1970; Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Marseille, France, 1972; Lee Witkin Gallery, New York, NY, 1972, 1979; Jacques Baruch Gallery, Chicago, IL, 1973, 1976; Institute of Contemporary Art, London, England, 1973; Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1974; Bibliotheque Nationale, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 1975; French Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1975; Galerie FNAC, Paris, 1976; Church Street Photography Center, Melbourne, Australia, 1978; Shadai Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 1978; G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 1979, 1981; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, 1980; Editions Gallery, Houston, TX, 1980-81; Parson's School Gallery, New York, NY, 1981; French Institute, Athens, Greece, 1983; George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, 1985; International Center of Photography, New York, NY, 1986; Espace Paul Ricard, Paris, 1996; De Vecchis Gallery, Philadelphia, 1996, 1997; California Museum of Photography, 1997; and John Stevenson Gallery, New York, NY, 2000, 2002. Work included in various group exhibitions, including Diogenes with a Camera No. Five, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1961; Lucien Clergue-Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Museum of Modern Art, then various U.S. cities, and Contemporary Photography, George Eastman House, Rochester, both 1962; The Painter and the Photograph, 1964; Regards sur la terre des hommes, Expo Universelle, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Man in Sport, Gallery of Modern Art, New York, NY, and Hemis Fair 68, Houston, TX, all 1967; Musée Cantini, 1968; Hommages à Pablo Picasso, Festival d'Avignon, 1973; The Nude, Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France, 1975; Hommage à Jean Cocteau, London, then British cities, 1977; Hecho in Latino-America, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico, 1978; The Nude, Musée Fabre, 1978; Photographes de la région Provence-Côte d'Azur, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Marseille, 1978; Ten-Year Anniversary, Lee Witkin Gallery, New York, NY, 1979; Looking for Picasso, International Center of Photography, New York, NY, 1980; La Camargue vue par deux photographes: Lucien Clergue and Dieter Magnus, Goethe Institute, Marseille; Des Clefs des Serrures, Cannon Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland; Collection FNAC, FNAC Gallery, Brussels, Belgium; Four Generations of French Photographers, Friends of Photography Gallery, Carmel, CA, 1981; Hommage à Daniel Sorano, Maison Jean Vilar, Avignon, France, 1982; French Photographers, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA, 1983; On Point Lobos, Friends of Photography Gallery, Carmel, 1985; Contemporary Artist, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 1986; Man and the Sea, Art Junction, Nice, France, 1990; and World Press International, Paris, 1997.

MEMBER: Academie d'Arles, Association Nationale Photographes Createurs, Parc Regional Camargue, Societe des Amis Jean Cocteau, Association des Amis de la Fondation St.-John Perse.

AWARDS, HONORS: Prix Louis Lumiere, 1966, for Drame du taureau; Academy Award nomination, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1968, for Delta de sel; chevalier, Ordre National du Merite, 1980; Grand Prize from Higashikawa Photography Festival, 1986; award for World Press International show, 1997; chevalier, French Legion of Honor, c. 2003.

WRITINGS:

(Author of foreword and photographer) Camargue secrete, P. Belfond (Paris, France), 1976.

Practical Nude Photography, Focal Press (Boston, MA), 1983.

(With Jean Cocteau) Correspondance, Actes Sud (Arles, France), 1989.

(With Salvatore Lombardo) Double fantaisie: Entretien autour d'un doute, Autres Temps (Marseille, France), 1999.

Contributor to books, including Langage des sables, foreword by Roland Barthes, Agep (Marseille, France), 1980. Also contributor to periodicals, including Le Provencal.

photographer

(With Paul Eluard and Jean Cocteau) Corps memorable, Edition Pierre Seghers (Paris, France), 1957.

(With Jean Cocteau and Jean-Marie Magnan) Poesie der Photographie, DuMont Schauberg (Cologne, West Germany), 1960.

(With Jean Cocteau and Jean-Marie Magnan) Toros muertos, Brussel & Brussel (New York, NY), 1962.

(With Federico García Lorca) Birth of Aphrodite, Brussel & Brussel (New York, NY), 1963.

(With Daniel Schmitt) Le Taureau au Corps, Editec (Paris, France), 1963.

(With Jean Cocteau) Le Testament d'Orphee, Edition du Rocher (Monaco), 1963.

(With Jean Cocteau and others) Lucien Clergue: A Retrospective Monograph, Die Arche Verlag (Zurich, Switzerland), 1963.

(With Jean Cocteau) Numero Uno: A Portrait of Antonio Ordonez in Twenty-four Photographs, Editec (Paris, France), 1963.

(With Jean Cocteau, M. Gasse, and others) Lucien Clergue Photographe, P. Schifferli (Zurich, Switzerland), 1964.

Lucien Clergue: Photographies, 1958-1964, Paradis (Luneville, France), 1964.

(With Jean-Marie Magnan, Robert Marteau, and Paco Tolosa) El Cordobès, La Jeune Parque (Paris, France), 1965.

(With Jean-Marie Magnan) Le Temple tauromacique, Edition Seghers (Paris, France), 1968.

Nee de la vague, P. Belfond (Paris), 1968, translation published as Nude of the Sea, 1980.

(With St.-John Perse) Genese: 50 photographies sur des themes d'Amers choisis par Saint-John Perse, P. Belfond (Paris, France), 1973.

(With Michel Tournier) Lucien Clergue: Mers, plages, sources et torrents, arbres, Editions Perceval (Paris, France), 1974.

(With Jean-Marie Magnan) Le Quart d'heure du taureau, Editions du Chene (Paris, France), 1976.

(With Manitas de Plata) Musique aux doigts, R. Laffont (Paris, France), 1976.

La Camargue est au bout des chemins, Agep (Marseille, France), 1978.

(With Christian Baroche) L'Ecorce indechiffrable, Editions Rijois (Marseille, France), 1978.

Belle des sables, Agep (Marseille, France), 1979.

(With J. L. Michel) The Best Nudes, Haga Shoten (Tokyo, Japan), 1979.

Hommage au paysage comtois, peint par Gustave Courbet et rephotographie par Lucien Clergue (exhibition catalogue), Les Amis de Gustave Courbet (Paris, France), 1979.

Les Saltimbanques, Agep (Marseille, France), 1980.

Eve est noire, Selezioni d'Immagini (Monza, Italy), 1982.

Nude Workshop, Viking (New York, NY), 1982.

Lucien Clergue: Photographs, 1953-1981, 1982.

I Grandi Fotografi: Lucien Clergue, edited by Gianna Rizzoni, Editions Fabbri Milano (Milan, Italy), 1983.

Lucien Clergue, Nippon Geijutsu Shuppansha (Tokyo, Japan), 1983.

Vivre la Provence et la Camargue, Editions Menges (Paris, France), 1983.

(With Jean Dieuzaide) Variations sur la Croix, Musee d'Interlinden, 1983.

(With Marianne Fulton) Eros and Thanatos, introduction by Michel Tournier, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1985.

Passion de femmes: Une lecon de photographie, Editions P. Montel (Paris, France), 1985.

(With Jim Hughes) Footprints of the Gods: The Point Lobos Saga, Iris Publications (Boca Raton, FL), 1989.

(With Mauro Corradini and Jean-Marie Magnan) Dialogo—Vingt deptici inediti di Lucien Clergue, 1980-1990, Edizioni del Museo (Brescia, Italy), 1991.

(With Jean-Marie Magnan) Tauromachies, introduction by Jean Cau, preface by Christian Lacroix, Marval (Paris, France), 1991.

(With Jean Cau and Alain Montcouquiol) Nimeno II: Torero de France, Marval (Paris, France), 1992.

(With Jean-Marie Magnan) Une Faena de Curro Romero, Marval (Paris, France), 1992.

Picasso, mon ami, Editions Plume (Paris, France), 1993.

(With Françoise Dubost) Mon paysage: Le paysage prefere des français, Marval (Paris, France), 1995.

(With C. Baroche and others) Saint-John Perse: Poete devant la mer, J & D Editions (Biarritz, France), 1996.

Passion passions, Actes Sud (Arles, France), 1997.

Lucien Clergue: Grands Nus, Umschau/Braus (Heidelberg, Germany), 1999.

David LeHardy Sweet, Jean Cocteau, Testament of Orpheus, Viking (New York, NY), 2001.

Arena, Actes Sud (Arles, France), 2001.

El Cordobès, Actes Sud (Arles, France), 2002.

Contributor of photographs to books, including Saint-John Perse: Bio-bibliografica e poema Amers, Centro de Arte Moderna, Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon, Portugal), 1984.

screenplays; and director

La Drame du taureau, Les Films du Jeudi, 1965.

Dans Arles ou sont les Alyscamps, Films de la Pleiade, 1966.

Linares, le jeune torero, Films de la Pleiade, 1966.

Le Phare, Films de la Pleiade, 1966.

Delta de sel, Films de la Pleiade, 1966.

Entrâinement du torero, Films de la Pleiade, 1968.

Mario Prassinos, Films de la Pleiade, 1968.

Flamants Roses de Camargue, Films de la Pleiade, 1969.

Mediterraneenne, Films de la Pleiade, 1969.

Sables, Films de la Pleiade, 1969.

Cap sur Dakar, Arelatys, 1970.

Dressage de chevaux sauvages, Films de la Pleiade, 1970.

La Foret calcinee, Films de la Pleiade, 1970.

Voyage en Camardie, Films de la Pleiade, 1971.

television specials; and director

Manitas de Plata, Prince de Camargue, Films La Boetie, 1968.

Picasso: Guerre, Amour et Paix, Condor Films/Universal, 1968.

Musimages, Palette/FR3, 1999.

WORK IN PROGRESS: P. H. de Mendoza, for Actes Sud (Arles, France); exhibitions in Munich, Germany, Zurich, Switzerland, and Chicago, IL.

SIDELIGHTS: Lucien Clergue is a prominent photographer who is particularly known for his striking portraits of nudes. He studied basic photography techniques in the late 1940s, while he was still a teenager, and executed his first series of photographs in the mid-1950s. Within a few years Clergue had also befriended (along with Pablo Picasso) the versatile artist Jean Cocteau, a distinguished writer, painter, and filmmaker. Clergue and Cocteau would collaborate on several books, with Clergue supplying the photographs and Cocteau producing the text. Among their books are Poesie der Photographie, Toros muertos, Numero Uno: A Portrait of Antonio Ordonez in Twenty-four Photographs, and Le Testament d'Orphee. The latter volume derives from photographs made by Clergue while on the set of Cocteau's film of the same title.

In the mid-1960s, even as he remained active as a photographer, Clergue also began working as a filmmaker. He won the Lumiere Prize for his first work, Drame du Taureau, which appeared in 1965, and he received an Academy Award nomination for Delta de sel, which was released in 1968. Among Clergue's other notable films is Picasso: Guerre, Amour, et Paix, a film about the noted twentieth-century Spanish painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso, whom Clergue first met in the early 1950s.

Clergue came to the United States in 1961 and became acquainted with landscape photographer Ansel Adams. A few years later Clergue traveled the country, photographing nudes in urban settings. During the next decade he executed a series of photographs of Death Valley and published Nude Workshop, which featured nude photographs from throughout Clergue's career.

Clergue once told CA: "I want to create a language of images and this tentative idea was first made concrete with my book Langage des sables. The later books, including Footprints of the Gods: The Point LobosSaga, have the same roots. Meeting with Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and St.-John Perse has been decisive for my career, as they all convinced me to do more and go further. Illustration of their work was more a dialogue than illustration. Photography means writing with light."