{"id":3702,"date":"2018-12-10T05:28:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T04:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/?page_id=3702"},"modified":"2021-09-22T15:36:41","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T13:36:41","slug":"biography","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/en\/biography\/","title":{"rendered":"Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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November 14, 1919<\/strong>: Birth of Blasco Mentor in Barcelona. <\/span><\/p>\n

He studied painting at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona.<\/span><\/p>\n

1933 and 1934<\/strong>: Mentor obtains the silver medal from the School of Fine Arts, an award also obtained by Pablo Picasso and Antoni Clav\u00e9. <\/span><\/p>\n

From 1936 to 1939<\/strong> Mentor enlisted in the Spanish Republican armies. <\/span><\/p>\n

1939<\/strong>: Sentenced to death by the Franco regime, he leaves Spain and takes refuge in France. There he met another Spanish refugee, Neige, and settled with her in Solli\u00e8s-Toucas in the Var. She will become his companion and his muse and they will share their life between the Parisian workshop (now disappeared) of the impasse de la Granges -aux -Belles, and the construction of the house-workshop \u00ab\u00a0Casa Nieves\u00a0\u00bb on the heights. from the village of Solli\u00e8s-Toucas. <\/span><\/p>\n

From the end of the war, Mentor’s notoriety grew and he became a key figure in the Paris school by participating in numerous exhibitions in galleries and art fairs. <\/span><\/p>\n

1953<\/strong>: he obtains in Paris, the drawing prize and the Critics’ prize. <\/span><\/p>\n

1966<\/strong>: all of his work is crowned with the prestigious \u00ab\u00a0Grand Prix des Peintres T\u00e9moins de leur Temps\u00a0\u00bb. <\/span><\/p>\n

1968<\/strong>: He is named \u00ab\u00a0out of competition\u00a0\u00bb at the Critics’ Prize with a special mention awarded unanimously for the realization of a mural of 400 M2 at the youth center \u00ab\u00a0Guy Moquet\u00a0\u00bb in La Courneuve (93) on the theme of the conquest of happiness. <\/span><\/p>\n

That same year, the town of Saint Denis (93) acquired his 3mx3m work \u00ab\u00a0Bombardment in Vietnam\u00a0\u00bb, which the painter had presented at the \u00ab\u00a0Salon des Peintres T\u00e9moins de leur Temps\u00a0\u00bb. It will become a major piece of the city’s Museum of Art and History.<\/span><\/p>\n

1974<\/strong>: Mentor inaugurates the Artcurial international art center in Paris. <\/span><\/p>\n

1976<\/strong>: He receives the seal of the city of Milan for the realization of a fresco of 250 M2 \u00ab\u00a0Mercury and Abundance\u00a0\u00bb at the Castiglione Palace for the union of Tourism and Labor of Milan: it is the largest fresco Europe at the time of its realization. <\/span><\/p>\n

From 1977<\/strong>, Mentor’s work has been present around the world. Exhibitions take place in France but also in Italy, Spain, Ivory Coast and Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

1987<\/strong>: Mentor is made Chevalier des Arts et Lettres.<\/span><\/p>\n

1990<\/strong>: Minister of Culture Jack Lang presents him with the Poster Art Prize for his exhibition \u00ab\u00a0les concertistes\u00a0\u00bb at the Galerie Guign\u00e9 in Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n

2000<\/strong>: Blasco Mentor and Neige donate their house-workshop, a true artistic creation, and a large collection of works to the town of Solli\u00e8s-Toucas. <\/span><\/p>\n

2003<\/strong>: Blasco Mentor passes away at the age of 83.<\/span><\/p>\n

2007<\/strong>: On the death of his wife Snow, a posthumous legacy completes the Mentor endowment with an exceptional collection of more than 450 works; paintings, sculptures, drawings, works of art … <\/span><\/p>\n

2011<\/strong>: Creation of the \u00ab\u00a0Univers Mentor\u00a0\u00bb endowment fund to promote Mentor’s work.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mentor, a destiny, a commitment, a life dedicated to art <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A 15-year-old Barcelona Fine Arts silver medalist, Blasco Mentor was very talented in painting at an early age. Like Picasso, another famous Catalan, he began a remarkable and promising journey and could have known the same notoriety: fate had decided otherwise … <\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout his life, Blasco Mentor has always been a committed artist. At 19 he was condemned in absentia by the Francist regime, having rallied the Republican troops in the fight against the dictatorship. He must flee Spain, cross the Pyrenees illegally and join the influx of Spanish refugees in France. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the Gurs internment camp he experiences cold, hunger, and disease. In hiding, he then joined the south of France where a small village welcomed Spanish refugees. This small village is Solli\u00e8s-Toucas, and it is in this setting of green hills crossed by the Gapeau river that his life will take a decisive turn. Neige, a Spanish refugee like him, will take him in, take care of him and become his muse and his lifelong companion. Together they will experience difficult times because the artist is sorely lacking in money at these beginnings. Together they will engage with the resistance, together again they will develop the project of an extraordinary house-workshop which, day after day, stone after stone will become the unique testimony of their love and of the artist’s imagination.<\/span><\/p>\n

he world that Mentor has created, filled with chimeras, music, marvelous gardens, inaccessible and sensual muses, parody birds, takes shape at casa Nieves: the house of Snow. With the growing notoriety of the artist, who now divides his time between his Parisian studio and his Toucassin haven, exhibitions and commissions are pouring in and the project has grown; the garden is filled with sculptures (another \u201centertainment\u201d for Mentor), the workshops are being built. He is now an accomplished and recognized artist who takes refuge in his wonderful garden to imagine, paint and draw musicians, muses, bullfighting scenes, circuses, colorful landscapes and many other subjects. <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite adversity and the vagaries of history, Blasco Mentor’s talent has always enabled him to transcend hardship with a daring palette, confident design and limitless imagination. Always inventive and in constant research, his work nonetheless rests on solid foundations, ancient and of great Spanish tradition. It is this blend of strength and sensitivity that touches us and preserves all of its modernity in his work. <\/span><\/p>\n

After his death his work gradually fell into oblivion. But it’s up to us to bring it to life again, and through our eyes it re-enchants our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2000 and 2007 two bequests endowed the town hall of Solli\u00e8s-Toucas with the property \u00ab\u00a0la casa Nieves\u00a0\u00bb with the furniture, objects and archives it contains, as well as a set of more than 450 works (paintings, drawings, sculptures). , lithographs, works of art …) <\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cunivers Mentor\u201d endowment fund (created in 2011), the municipality of Solli\u00e8s-Toucas and the association \u201cthe friends of the work of Blasco Mentor\u201d (created in 2018), are now working to promote the work. de Mentor, the restoration of the casa Nieves and the project of a future museum in the town. <\/span><\/p>\n

For \u00ab\u00a0the friends of the work of Blasco Mentor\u00a0\u00bb <\/span><\/p>\n

Paule Forner <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

November 2, 2020<\/span><\/p>\n

——<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

La Casa Nieves<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 14, 1919: Birth of Blasco Mentor in Barcelona. He studied painting at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. 1933 and 1934: Mentor obtains the silver medal from the School of Fine Arts, an award also obtained by Pablo … Continuer la lecture →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3702","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":3702},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3702"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3713,"href":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3702\/revisions\/3713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blasco-mentor-solliestoucas.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}