Born in 1957 almost at the door of a studio, that of his father, the nuagist painter Frédéric Benrath, without knowing it, Emmanuel will keep indelible traces of it, the passive memory becoming very active as soon as he started to paint, spending hours observing him working with his eyes as a...

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  Biography of Emmanuel Benrath

  Born in 1957 almost at the door of a studio, that of his father, the nuagist painter Frédéric Benrath, without knowing it, Emmanuel will keep indelible traces of it, the passive memory becoming very active as soon as he started to paint, spending hours observing him working with his eyes as a child, then as a teenager and young man. Very quickly, very early on, Emmanuel Benrath became interested in photography and here again, thanks to his father's proximity to the artists of Montparnasse and the Latin Quarter, he met several photographers while visiting the galleries of the capital; The house where he grew up was also frequently animated by the friendly presence of great Parisian painters, actors, writers, musicians and photographers (Pierre Soulages, Georges Mathieu, Zao Wou Ki, Pierre Arditi, Michel Butor, Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xénakis, etc. ...) and renowned photographers including "a certain" Robert Doisneau!After a schooling where he was bored, he naturally turned to art studies. First at the ESAG (Ecole Supérieure d'Arts Graphiques) Penninghen, then at the famous Académie de la Grande Chaumière where so many great artists have passed through.These studies gave rise to a thirst for art, at the same time as his visual acuity was awakened; regularly, he shyly browsed the openings of Parisian galleries.In 1979, the sea imposed itself as a second passion; sailing, essentially, diverted Emmanuel Benrath for a few years from art and he settled on his sailboat in Antibes. He understands that his passions are both contemplative and quickly realises that he has only let go of art with one hand.During his father's visits to the Côte d'Azur, he accompanied him when he went to greet his friends Hans Hartung and Anna-Eva Bergman; with him, he visited the museums and galleries of the Côte d'Azur region.For ten years, Emmanuel Benrath gave photography classes at the Maison des Jeunes of Antibes, where he organised an annual exhibition of his work. He discovered the pleasure of arousing the emotion of the spectators through his own works.Photography became a livelihood, along with his discreet love of painting, abstract painting (he painted small formats). He participates in the creation of several art books, he paints more and more, his formats become larger. Emmanuel Benrath is now starting to exhibit regularly, both in the field of painting and photography. « I try to show what cannot be seen, sometimes by evidence, sometimes by inadvertence. I let the part of chance, of luck, even of accident exist. Above all, to transmit. Not to keep what one knows joins the desire to show. While keeping the same guideline, I paint, I make art photographs, I practice and teach the art of tai chi chuan, while trying to be a witness of our time, » writes the artist.  
  
  

  

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