The smile on the corner of his lips and the soul of a freed poet, Frédéric Michalak is a lover of abstraction. Come and discover abstract painting in all its aspects on his booth and let your eye navigate between works of a thousand colors and monochromes charged of intensity ...
Tell us about your background
Since my young age, I have been sensitive to the art. Painter in his spare time, my mother very naturally transmitted to me her taste for painting with canvases, here and there, in the four corners of the house. So as a child, I discovered paintings and masters with the same amazement and this growing desire to contemplate new ones.
Impressionism particularly touched me in my youth, then my adolescence took me to ancient painting, the Grandes Ecoles, Spanish, Dutch, French… From the figurative my eye focused on the abstract, forging itself with time. Today, even if I still appreciate an old or post-modern painting as much, I am mainly interested in the abstraction.
Many trips have rocked my journey, leading me to meet works of a thousand origins. I nevertheless took a few years to get started and dedicate myself to my love of painting. It was around 35 years old that finally, I felt ready to take on a passionate profession and embrace the pleasure of independence, with all the risks that this entails.
What is your speciality ?
I prefer to speak of pictorial orientation, which I would say centered on abstraction. I enjoy defending small artists whose works. I buy out of taste and sensitivity. I freely listen to my emotions but the composition also participates in my choices, the consistency of the booth follows easily.
I offer quite special pieces, so my clients are often warned or art lovers. You have to appreciate or understand, I often sell to decorators but individuals are increasingly cracking. The whole notion of abstraction is there , being able to buy at your own pace without necessarily understanding ...
I thus present artists like Jacques Germain, Angel Alonso, Jacques Nestlé, Maurice Morel, Carlos Carnero… Finding the lots which allow to see the evolution of their work through several works is a pleasure, as rare as it is. Post-war abstraction inspires me greatly, but I remain attentive to contemporary artists, in order to know their successors.
Why Paul Bert Serpette?
Initially installed at the Puces de Vanves, I admit having had some preconceptions about Paul Bert Serpette, whom I now regret. I certainly should have come earlier, but today I am established in Paul Bert and no longer intend to leave! We represent here a large group of antique dealers in contact with the outside world. Every weekend I experience the same pleasure of sharing and exchanging. I sometimes speak English, Spanish or German in just a few hours, which brings a little change of scenery! It is a unique place in which unity is strength.
Tell us about a favorite piece of yours
I would like to tell you about a gouache by Jacques Nestlé, one of the artists that I appreciate and that I sell the most. Born in 1907, he has crossed the century addressing in turn several subjects in his art, the forest, still lifes, abstraction, women… His talent deserve, in my opinion, a much greater recognition and this should be born in the years to come. Having remained discreet throughout his life, time will give him the attention he deserves.
I am currently presenting a gouache whose space and composition move me. This is not necessarily his most spectacular creation, but I have the impression that Jacques Nestlé lets himself go on this gouache… This work on paper requires to be mounted on canvas, it is indeed the best means of representation for such format, namely 160 by 130 cm.
