Exhibition Esprit olympique

From July 27 to October 5, 2024 Could we have escaped it? Was it possible that this thirty-eighth exhibition at the Centre Cristel Éditeur d’art, inaugurated precisely on the evening of the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, would not be devoted to what must be called the “Olympic spirit”. That is, the idea that men and women, theoretically beings of thought – we sometimes doubt it, but that’s another debate – are also the embodiment of a body, a force, a gesture, a style, a momentum.

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Works from the exhibition Olympic Spirit

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Pictures from the exhibition

Olympic spirit

Could we have avoided it? Could we not make this, the thirty-eighth exhibition at the Centre Cristel Éditeur d’art, inaugurated precisely on the evening of the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, be devoted to what must be called the “Olympic spirit”. In other words, the idea that men and women, theoretically beings of thought – we sometimes doubt it, but that’s another debate – are also the embodiment of a body, a force, a gesture, a style, a momentum. Echoing the famous Olympic motto: Citius, altius, fortius. The “Plus vite, plus haut, plus fort” (“Faster, higher, stronger”) campaign was launched in 1894, inspired by a fervent preacher, Father Henri Didon. A strange character, in truth, capable of blinding himself to Captain Dreyfus’s supposed guilt. But, in essence, a man of extreme willpower. Citius, altius, fortius… How can we not see it? The Olympic motto, designed for both muscle and spirit, is necessarily designed for art. What painter, indeed, or sculptor, has not droned, in front of his easel or his saddle, that august prayer: “Faster, higher, stronger”? And even, obviously, “more beautiful, bigger, further away”… In this respect, we are reminded of another prayer, once formulated by the young Raymond Moretti: “Give me the sky and I’ll paint it…”.An ingenious word that opened the doors to dreams and creation. No doubt this is why Pablo Picasso admired Moretti so much.Raymond Moretti, in fact… In 2004, he was the first artist invited by Cristel Éditeur d’Art to realize what would become one of the most exciting challenges in contemporary art: to create an annual portrait of Jacques Goddet, a famous figure in the press and in sport. To summarize: the only French special envoy to Los Angeles for the 1932 Olympic Games. Founder of the newspaper “L’Équipe” in 1946. Henri Desgrange’s successor at the helm of the Tour de France, from 1947 to 1987.

And so, since 2004, as part of the Prix Jacques-Goddet awarded annually to the best article in the French-language press on the Tour de France, the subject that twenty artists of the 21st century have already tackled: drawing Jacques Goddet. And what artists they are! In order of appearance on stage: Raymond Moretti, Eduardo Arroyo, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Henri Cueco, Mark Brusse, Valerio Adami, Peter Stämpfli, Vladimir Veličković, Erró, Jacques Villeglé, Peter Klasen, Philippe Cognée, Antonio Seguí, Claude Viallat, Gérard Guyomard, Pat Andrea, Camilla Adami, Olga Novokhatska, Ivan Messac, Franco Salas Borquez. A list which, on its own, has the virtues of an Olympic prize list! Twenty of today’s painting champions, whose paintings hang in over a thousand museums worldwide…
A sensational project, accomplished in the form of carefully numbered and signed prints, spanning an undeniable museum dimension.. Moving from one portrait to another, or from one tennis vision to another – since the undeniable success of the Prix Jacques-Goddet has given rise to the Prix Denis-Lalanne, awarded annually to the best press article devoted to the Roland-Garros tournament – it’s hard not to be immediately struck by the variety of styles and the diversity of talent. How can you resist the thousand powers of the line – never the same? Yes, it’s a unique stroke, but a vibrant one, always recognizable from artist to artist, master to master. Hence the almost Olympian question our visitors are bound to ask themselves: which painter, which work, which drawing do they prefer?

On the immense podium of art, ex aequo are allowed.

Christophe Penot
Art editor