the vision of a romantic and refined world ...

 Beyond  the confusion of genre paintings and values, there are painters whose romanticism is obvious at first sight .
Your soul and heart are gently touched by a feeling of sweet refinement.
Your eyes can discern the emotive values of the color, the magical light of a pastel drawing, the poetic quality of intimate scenes, the lyrical grace of a dancer, the pensive softness of a face...
The painting vibrates, and thus a soft reverie captures you.  So is Jean Michel VETU's pictorial world .
Native to the North of France, he was country bred ; except for a few stays in Paris, with a cousin - an art student, and an uncle taking him to every museum in the capital, he spent his youth in a tranquil village . By the time he was eight, he was proficient at drawing and painting. His training consisted of copying the masters or simply taking his inspiration from subjects at hand. He studied and started his professional career as an architect assistant. He was not, in fact, ready yet to take up the uncertain life of an artist. But deeply preoccupied with art, he finally decided to follow his cousin's
example .

His studio and gallery ...

In 1985, he entered the school of Fine Arts in Paris. For four years, he improved his artistic knowledge of the human body from live models. He revealed a good grasp of anatomy and a talent for lifelike detail. His works
displayed extraordinary draftsmanship. Years later, in 1993, he woke up to his real destiny. He met his muse and companion to be. She brought him to realize he was a born painter and therefore had to be a painter He broke away then from the secure circles he moved in listlessly and quit the world of architecture to totally devote himself to his art .At 39, he is a newly born artist . From then on, it became clear he had to go ahead  with a work which had been brewing for so long .  The artist says " Right from the start, I have been painting in my head ..."
 
In 1995, he settled down in Nice. Now, he was to test his talents in the arena of art . He worked in a studio and gallery located in the very heart of the old city. His passion for art spurred him to work at almost pitch fever. When painting, he could, at last, bring to light his emotions and mood. He turned out a great many
works.  Alert and keenly observant, he has wrought his great natural abilities into a powerful and personal style - warm palette, gentle brushwork, light outlines, delicate colors, moving pictures .
His technical virtuosity mainly expresses itself through the use of oil and pastel , a true hyphen between drawing and painting.
To contemplate Jean-Michel VETU's work, is to concentrate on the eloquence of the figures moving in a cosy atmosphere and portrayed with a poetic touch .
It is also to let oneself be seduced by the ballet world.

   Dancing ...

About the dancing world the artist says :  
« Dancing is a very demanding art ... It embodies grace and beauty, music and poetry... on the whole a hedge against the harsh world we live in ... Every movement, every posture is worth being immortalized through this love tussle between painting and dancing ... »  
Jean-Michel VETU sees himself fulfilling his conviction that art is an accurate approach of human nature combined to a meticulous artistic achievement .
Dancing is a subject that seems ready made for him. His interest in the grace and beauty of the human figure is revived by his observations of the dancers . Impressed by their lithe, disciplined bodies, he makes delightful drawings and paintings which show luminous stage sets or quiescent and fine featured ballerinas ... Jean-Michel VETU's work bears out the academic virtuosity inherent to the ballet world . It exudes lyricism in every detail . It creates a romantic atmosphere which emphasizes delicate lues and a light pouring voluptuously over the faces, the bodies and the costumes .
Jean Michel VETU sublimates the world around him with a delicate touch.  His emotional work exclusively appeals to the eye and the heart ,and thus does not require any intellectual comment.
The eye of the artist can see accurately and the brush  expresses a romantic vision of the world without any formal, literary or cultural prejudice interfering between work and reality.
The balance thus obtained between what can be seen and what can be felt, will seduce any sensitive mind in search of serene and colorful feelings.  

MOSCOW  2001

In 2001, he spent some time in Russia in order to work out his projects to be.
In june 2001, he worked at the notoriously cultural and musical Capella Institute in St Petersburg. The manager Vitaly Lavrov and the master hand Vladimir Tchernouchenko gave him the opportunity to attend every orchestra and choir rehearsal. Immersed in musical circles, he went on sketching his impressions. His production of sketches and drawings was the first stage of a concentrated preliminary work dealing with music.
He also frequented the famous museum The Hermitage located just opposite the Capella Institute. As a result, he discovered in St Petersburg an artistic life which undoubtedly encouraged his creativity and helped him to find the clue to his works to be.
From October to December, he mainly worked at the Bolshoi theater in Moscow. His pass allowed him to attend every ballet and opera performed in this theatre. He also attended the dancers' rehearsals directed by the dancing master, Michel Lavroski. Therefore the Bolshoi wings hold no secrets for him. Gisella, The Sylphids, The Swan Lake, The Spade Lady, Spartacus, and operas such as Aida, Boris Godounov opened his eyes and his mind to the infinite possibilities of his art. Back to France in late December, he started to express on the canvas the ideas and impressions he had captured when staying in Russia

His Projects...

In 2001, he flew back to Russia where he worked in the very famous music institution " la Capella"  in Saint Petersburg.
There he met well known musicians, world- famous conductors, attended practices and was full of these renowned premises.  
His sketches drawn from life when attending practices will be of a great help for his next exhibition planned in Saint Petersburg

In june 2001, the director of the Bolchoi theater welcame him.
He explained his project: an exhibition about the most famous corps de ballet of the Bolchoi. His project was given a favourable reception.

Jean Michel Vetu's dream is about to come true: to paint the stars !   

He will be back to Moscow next october; he will settle down for several months in a studio located in the Tvserskaya street, next to the Bolchoi theater.
 

© Texte biographique écrit par  Michelle LAFLAQUIERE-BONNEAU                                                          Page d'accueil ...