Debout

2018

Oil on canvas

90 × 65 cm (35 7/16 × 25 9/16 in.)

Gicquel's paintings share a common aim: to question our humanity and the meaning of our lives. His almost primitive characters make us witnesses of their indeterminate gestures and their act of survival.

In Debout ("Stand Up"), a casually standing man wears something resembling Napoleonic headgear. Thick contours strongly outline the solitary figure, who is standing next to a picture he may have just finished painting. By deciding to stay on his feet, he shows his true nature and his unshakeable desire to live, despite the trying upheavals of history and the world.

Debout was painted for the 2018 show of the same name at the Couvent des Jacobins in Rennes, in a room acquired by the Pinault Collection and set aside for the artist.
Exhibitions
  • Debout !

    Couvent des Jacobins