Exhibition text:<\/p>\n
Born in Hungary, Lucien Herv\u00e9 emigrated to France in 1929 with the intention of becoming a painter. He honed his eye in Europe’s greatest museums and through Expressionist cinema, but it was as a self-taught photographer that he learned his trade. A Communist, then a Resistance fighter, he was a man of convictions, values that he wished to put to good use in his commitment as an artist. In 1949, his encounter with the work of Le Corbusier, and then with the architect himself, turned him definitively towards photography, and architectural photography in particular.<\/p>\n
The embodiment of modernism and genius, the architect’s buildings fascinated him, and he sought to capture both their materiality and their intangible aspects. They inspired his desire to become a builder himself in the field of images, using his own tools: light and shadow. He asserted his language right from his first photographs: geometric and often minimalist compositions that tend towards abstraction. They are based on the tension between shapes and volumes, the balance between full and empty, offering an evocation rather than a description of the subjects. Le Corbusier told Herv\u00e9 that he possessed “the soul of an architect”, and he drew heavily on his photographs to disseminate his architecture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Lucien Herv\u00e9 produced the vast majority of his images over a period of some twenty years, including fifteen – between 1950 and 1965 – working alongside the famous architect. He went on to collaborate with some of the greatest builders of his time (Alvar Aalto, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Oscar Niemeyer, Jean Prouv\u00e9, etc.), taking on numerous commissions and discovering sites from different periods around the world.<\/p>\n
A man of great spirituality, Lucien Herv\u00e9 was able to capture man’s aspirations through his buildings. Although individuals are rarely the subject of his photographs, Lucien Herv\u00e9 was nonetheless driven by a deep faith in humanity. After Le Corbusier’s death, and despite a long illness, he continued to invite his public not just to look, but to see and resonate with buildings and living conditions around the world through his books and exhibitions. He transformed his flat into a “total work of art”, in which colour plays a decisive role in energising the space and intensifying the depths of this intimate environment. As a teacher of many young architects and photographers, his eyes shone with curiosity until he was 97.<\/p>\n
Imola Gebauer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” class=”regards-photo-galerie” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”103138,103140,103142,103144,103146,103148,103150,103152,103154,103156,103158,103160,103162,103164,103166,103168″ image_grid_loading=”default” layout=”3″ masonry_style=”true” bypass_image_cropping=”true” item_spacing=”20px” gallery_style=”7″ load_in_animation=”fade_in”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”3%” bottom_padding=”10%” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text el_class=”subtitle” text_direction=”default”]\n