Pierre
DE BERROETA
1914-2004
Profile & Bio
Pierre Ambroise de Berroeta, was born in Paris in April 1914. His father,Jacques Alfred de Berroeta was an industrialist in the goldsmith's trade with business connections in Argentina. His great passion in life was art and he collected the works of many ‘unknown’ artists who have since become famous. This undoubtedly influenced his son, Pierre who from early on displayed a great interest in drawing and colours. He later studied at the Lycée pasteur at Neuilly, where he received instruction in drawing, painting and wood-engraving. Having gained entrance to the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris in May 1933, he initially worked under the guidance of André Dewambez, and later, that of Charles Guérin. His works were exhibited and attracting the attention of various art critics. As a competitor for the Prix de Rome, he was let down by his teacher Charles Guérin, who did not give him his backing and who even refused to sit on the jury in order to register his opposition to the institution. Mobilised in 1939, Pierre was taken as a prisoner of war and sent to Pomerania. Even there his talent was recognised and he was permitted to draw. He was allowed to keep one drawing for every twenty he handed over to the Germans; the Army Museum kept some of them marked with the seal "Stalag IIc". Thanks to the camp doctor and two men who were to remain his friends for the rest of his life, he thought up a scheme to get himself sent back to France. On his return to France in 1941, he married a former fellow students of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Marguerite Barboteu, known as Guichoune and two years later, they had a daughter, Marie-Laure. A prolific artist and an untiring worker, he exhibited regularly in Salons, but also at the Page gallery in Bayonne, the Saint- Nazaire Art Group, and the Daricarrère gallery in Biaritz. His art is representational. He loves the circus and exhibited with les Frères Bouglione at the Cirque d'Hiver a series of works for "Les Amis du Cirque"which attracted considerable attention. In 1946, he and his family moved to Argentina, where his wife’s parents lived. There, his palette became more varied and richer: landscapes, colours, Indian faces, native animals. He exhibited in the major galleries, was commissioned for the portraits of Argentinian high society. He also extensively painted the ‘gauchos’ and indigenous peoples. Over time he became one of Argentina's most celebrated and best known artists. Despite his high repute in Argentina, he never sought fame or honours, and decided to return to France in 1954. There he did not enjoy the same level of fame and felt free to experiment with tapestry design before returning to painting. He tried his hand at all possible subject matters: portraits, still-life, street scenes, animals, architecture. In 1958, following a journey to Peniscola, he decides to commit himself to abstraction. (Only many years later, to humour his grandsons did he sketch some quick portraits) His first abstract paintings used only a limited range of colours and seemed to reveal an intensity of inner struggle which he must have been going through as his art evolved in this new direction. Slowly, colours returned, accompanied by thicknesses - a feature of his canvases of the Sixties. The Seventies saw the flowering of his genius, allowing him to turn to other forms of art: structures in a variety of materials, slabs of glass, earthenware tiles, enamelled volcanic lava and still more tapestries. The next two decades marked a return to gouache and canvas. He spent more and more time in the Basque Country, close to the nature he loved, giving rise to works of greater maturity. At the end of 2001 the severe deterioration of his eyesight forced him to take a rest from his work and passion. He endured this with great dignity and passed away 6th February, 2004, at Isturitz.
Major Exhibitions
EXHIBITIONS: 1937 Exposition Universelle de Paris, France - Fresco for the CGT 1938 Groupe Artistique de Saint-Nazaire, France Salon d'Automne, Paris, France 1939 Groupe Artistique de Saint-Nazaire, France Salon des Etudiants, Paris, France Artistes Français au Grand Palais, France Amis des Arts, Pau, France Galerie Page, Salon Bayonnais, Bayonne, France Salon d'Automne, Paris, France 1940 Salon d'Automne, Paris, France 1941 Salon d'Automne, Paris, France Groupe Artistique de Saint-Nazaire, France Galerie Page, Bayonne, France 1942 Galerie Page, Bayonne, France Groupe Artistique de Saint-Nazaire, France Galerie Daricarrère, Salon des Saltimbanques, Biarritz, France 1943 Salon d'Automne, Paris, France Salon des Artistes Anciens Combattants, France "Les Amis du Cirque", Cirque d'Hiver, Paris, France 1944 Galerie G. Denis, Paris, France 1944 Galerie R. Lejeune, Paris, France Salon d'Automne, Paris, France 1945 Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France Salon d'Automne, Paris, France 1946 Galerias Witcomb, Buenos Aires, Argentine Salones Viau, Buenos Aires, Argentine 1947 Galerias Witcomb, Buenos Aires, Argentine 1948 Galeria ESTE, Punta del Este, Uruguay Galeria Pierre Charron, Buenos Aires, Argentine Galerie Vieux Paris Buenos Aires, Argentine 1949 Galerie Beaux-Arts, Paris, France 1950 Galerie Wildenstein, Buenos Aires, Argentine 1951 Galerie Wildenstein, Buenos Aires, Argentine 1953 Galerie Galatea, Buenos Aires, Argentine 1954 Galerie Monique de Groote, Paris, France Salon de Mai, Paris, France Galerie Charpentier, Paris, France 1955 Palais des Consuls, Rouen - Tapisseries 1956 Galerie M. Bénézit, Paris, France Coopérative d'Aubusson, France Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France Musée des Beaux Arts, Rouen, France Galerie des Arts, Lille, France Mairie du XVème, Paris, France Galerie Galatea, Buenos Aires, Argentine David, Marseille, France 1957 Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France Salon d'Automne, Paris , France 1958 Galerie Boler, Paris, France - Tapisseries et oiseaux de coquillages Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France Galerie Galatea, Buenos Aires, Argentine Chambre de Commerce, Chartres, France Ambassade de Suisse, Rio de Janeiro, Brésil Galerie des Arts, Lille, France Galerie Aktuaryus, Strasbourg, France 1959 Beauvais, commande de l'Etat - Tapisserie Peinture Contemporaine, Chartres, France Galerie Galatea, Buenos Aires, Argentine 1960 Galerie Simone Heller, Paris, France Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France 1961 Comparaisons, Paris, France 1962 Galerie Simone Heller, Paris, France 1963 Galerie Simone Heller, Paris, France Salon des Indépendants, Paris, France Décoration Ecole Albertville, France - Peinture Comparaisons, Paris, France 1964 Galerie Percier, Paris, France Comparaisons, Paris, France 1965 Comparaisons, Paris, France 1966 Musée de l'Armée, France - Dessins de captivité 1967 Comparaisons, Paris, France 1968 Exposition tapisseries, Angoulème, France Décoration école maternelle Pont Audemer, France Maîtres Contemporains du Vitrail, Chartres, France Maîtres Contemporains du vitrail, Palais de Chaillot, France 1969 E.N.A.C. Toulouse, France - Tapisserie "pulsion" Coutance Lycée Agricole - Mosaïque 25 m2 1970 Valençay, France - Structure bois/aluminium 15 m2 1971 Lycée Pascal, Massy, France - 2 décorations 4 x 1,75m 1972 Maison des Etudiants, Paris, France - Décoration Crèche de la Croix des Mèches, Créteil, France - Tapisserie Exposition Peintures Société Générale, Paris, France Exposition Peintures Société Générale, Bordeaux, France 1973 C.E.S. Hasparren, France - Décoration carreaux de faïence 21m2 IUT de La Rochelle, France - Tapisserie 17 m2 Ecole Jean Verdun, Hasparren, France - Décoration 10 m2 Exposition Peintures Société Générale, Sévres, France 1974 C.E.T. Vénissieux, France - Dalle de verre 10 m2 Sofitel Sèvres-Paris, France - Tapisserie 24 m2 1975 Exposition de peintures, Crédit Agricole, Bayonne, France C.E.S. Le Coteau, France - Structure polyester hauteur 4 m C.I.N. Querqueville, port de Cherbourg, France - Lave de Volvic émaillée 30 m2 Z.U.P. de Lorient, France - 200 m2 de carreaux de faïence dans un passage souterrain C.E.S. des Ailes, Vichy, France - 30 m2 de lave de Volvic émaillée dans une cascade ondulée Tour Société Générale La Défense, Paris, France - Tapisserie 9 m2 Tour Société Générale La Défense, Paris, France - 2 décorations peinture 12 m2 chaque 1976 Tour Société Générale La Défense, Paris, France - Lave de Volvic émaillée 27 m2 C.E.S. Sedan Le Lac, France - Lave de Volvic émaillée 1,7 x 5 m Lycée Technique Bayonne, France - Carreaux de faïence 400 m2 1978 Exposition Art-Affaires, Paris, France 1983 Galerie Bernheim, Paris, France 1989 Galerie Déo 70, Cannes, France - Peintures et gouaches 1993 Château Angelus, salle des Dominicains, Saint Émilion, France 2009 Château Angelus Saint Émilion, France 2012 Chapelle du Carmel Libourne, France 2015 Vieille Eglise Saint-Vincent Mérignac, France 2017 Maison des Princes Pérouges, France Galerie Bouscayrol Biarritz, France Galerie Trocmez Clermont Ferrand, France 2018 Cercle Münster, Luxembourg Centre d’Art Contemporain Château Lescombes Eysines, France
