A little bit of history...

The FIGURATION LIBRE movement officially took shape at the very beginning of the 1980s, in reaction to the austerity of conceptual and minimalist art from previous decades. It was in 1981 that the artist BEN gave the group its name, officializing a spontaneous, joyful, and casual aesthetic. This new generation of artists claimed a return to figurative painting without academic rules, appropriating the codes of the street, advertising, and subculture with total freedom and a frequently provocative sense of humor.

The leading figures of this movement quickly shook up the French artistic landscape. Artists like Robert COMBAS, considered the leader of the movement, and Rémi BLANCHARD imposed a strong graphic style, marked by thick black outlines and saturated colors. They were soon joined by François BOISROND and Hervé DI ROSA, who infused their works with the imagery of comic books, cartoons, and popular toys. Together, they saturated their canvases with monsters, whimsical characters, and frenetic scenes of daily life.

The year 1984 marked a major international turning point for the group thanks to the landmark exhibition "5/5: Figuration Libre, France/USA" organized at the Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris. This historic event built a decisive cultural bridge by confronting the creations of French painters with those of the New York graffiti scene and East Village, driven by icons of the same generation such as Keith HARING or Jean-Michel BASQUIAT, thus sealing the global impact of this new figuration.

Although the group's original collective effervescence faded towards the end of the 1980s, the legacy of FIGURATION LIBRE remains immense in the history of contemporary art. By unsanctifying "grand painting" and opening museum doors to pop culture, Robert COMBAS, Hervé DI ROSA, and their peers paved the way for the rise of today's street art and urban art, proving that serious art could also be deeply accessible and uninhibited.

A few key exhibitions that mark the history of the group:

- "Finir en beauté" (June 1981, Paris)
Organized by art critic Bernard Lamarche-Vadel in his own Paris loft, this exhibition is considered the true starting point. It brought together Robert COMBAS, Hervé DI ROSA, Rémi BLANCHARD, and François BOISROND for the first time, marking the birth of the group.

- "L'Air du Temps: Figuration Libre en France" (1982, Galerie d'art contemporain de Nice)
Orchestrated at the initiative of Ben VAUTIER, this exhibition officialized and popularized the name of the movement among the public and institutions.

- "Statements New York 82" (1982, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York)
Organized by Otto Hahn, this exhibition marked the first major presentation of the four French artists in the United States, sparking their decisive encounter with the East Village art scene.

- "5/5: Figuration Libre, France/USA" (December 1984 – February 1985, Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris)
This was the pinnacle of the collective adventure. The exhibition directly confronted the French group (Robert COMBAS, Hervé DI ROSA, Rémi BLANCHARD, François BOISROND) with the finest of American graffiti and pop art: Keith HARING, Jean-Michel BASQUIAT, Kenny SCHARF, and CRASH.

The Paris Biennale (1985)
The movement held a central position there, affirming its essential status in the global art news of the mid-1980s.

- "Les Années 80: l’exposition" (2002, Centre Pompidou, Paris)
A major historical review that consecrated Figuration Libre as the leading pictorial movement of that decade in France.

- "Figuration Libre, historique d’une aventure" (2015, Musée Paul Valéry, Sète)
Since Sète is the birthplace of Robert COMBAS and Hervé DI ROSA, this exhibition accurately traced the close links, emulation, and raw energy that united the French quartet and their American counterparts in the early 80s.