SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
In the work of Bernard Réquichot, born in 1929 and who died in Paris in 1961, painting expands from working on the surface to collage, then to forms conceived to occupy space. Oil, applied to canvas, cardboard or paper, is a major means of expression: he scrapes away thick runs of paint, glues fragments of already painted canvases, works with a palette knife and splashes paint. At the same time, he develops the “Papiers choisis”, collages made from illustrations cut or torn from magazines. In the series “La guerre des nerfs”, spirals, paint and Papiers choisis come together. He also transposes his spiral drawings into space by assembling polystyrene rings; in 1960, he makes a first canvas painted and glued onto paper, shaped to be suspended.
He regularly goes to the Grande Chaumière to draw. His encounter with Jacques Villon accompanies the direction of his painting towards abstraction. From 1953 to 1956, he takes part in the restoration of mural paintings in the Romanesque church of Asnières-sur-Vègre. His first solo exhibition takes place in March 1955 at the Galerie Lucien Durand in Paris; in 1957, he also exhibits at the Galerie Daniel Cordier.
According to the entry by the Galerie Alain Margaron, two of the three painted canvases that he made, glued onto paper and shaped, are held at the Centre Pompidou. In 2024, the Musée national d’Art moderne–Centre Pompidou dedicates a solo exhibition to him, accompanied by a catalogue titled “Je n’ai jamais commencé à peindre”. A catalogue raisonné of his work is published by the Éditions de La Connaissance, with texts by Roland Barthes, Marcel Billot and Alfred Pacquement.
This profile brings together identity references for Bernard Réquichot and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
3 references are documented at Genève Enchères, Germann. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Ink on paper
Composition
encre sur papier
Catalogue period : 2020-09-24
Published result : 3300 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1000–1500
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huile et collage sur papier
Date to be documented
Published result : 6000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1000–1500
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Oil on canvas
Composition, 1954
Öl auf Leinwand.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
