FRANCOIS FIEDLER
FOUNDATION
Claude Esteban*: Necessary Argumentation, 1974
“By approaching the work of Fiedler, I think I can better discern the ascendant, the magnetization constants that,
disconcerted by many concepts, have influenced the thought of Byzantine and his images. Yes, here I find again, beyond all
analogy of forms, but by a kind of spiritual concord, urgency, almost tyrannic, the impulsions that in other times ruled the
interrogation of the Mistery through the signs: on one part, the feverish fascination of a Great Beyond that was going to be
translated into an hierocracy, an omnipresent hypnosis in the masks of the Pantocrator – and from time to time, the
apprehension and even the terror of having thus violated, in the pomp and fixity of the figures, the intangible will of the
Eternal.”
“If we substitute the revered transcendence for byzantine art by this calling, this fervour of magnetism so evident in Fiedler,
we shall see with more precision the double project which presides his work: to approach, thanks to the lines, masses,
colors, the admirable imagery of the matter, and at the same time to denounce, to destroy if possible such ambition in the
name of the Ineffable, transgressed and perhaps betrayed in our canvasses of wall. In fact, in Fiedler there is a strange
iconoclast … And if, in the heart of so many paintings – the same as in his engravings – we see him stab, cut, contradict with
his nervous and excessive strokes the matter which he loves, I am convinced that in the end it is to put asunder the danger of
possessing it and, in possessing it, to abolish for always that marvelous distance.”
disconcerted by many concepts, have influenced the thought of Byzantine and his images. Yes, here I find again, beyond all
analogy of forms, but by a kind of spiritual concord, urgency, almost tyrannic, the impulsions that in other times ruled the
interrogation of the Mistery through the signs: on one part, the feverish fascination of a Great Beyond that was going to be
translated into an hierocracy, an omnipresent hypnosis in the masks of the Pantocrator – and from time to time, the
apprehension and even the terror of having thus violated, in the pomp and fixity of the figures, the intangible will of the
Eternal.”
“If we substitute the revered transcendence for byzantine art by this calling, this fervour of magnetism so evident in Fiedler,
we shall see with more precision the double project which presides his work: to approach, thanks to the lines, masses,
colors, the admirable imagery of the matter, and at the same time to denounce, to destroy if possible such ambition in the
name of the Ineffable, transgressed and perhaps betrayed in our canvasses of wall. In fact, in Fiedler there is a strange
iconoclast … And if, in the heart of so many paintings – the same as in his engravings – we see him stab, cut, contradict with
his nervous and excessive strokes the matter which he loves, I am convinced that in the end it is to put asunder the danger of
possessing it and, in possessing it, to abolish for always that marvelous distance.”
“He does not propose a detailed commentary on the world – what others
would call a discursive version of being here, but, rather a poetry of
matter, an animation, a plastic expression listening to fundamental
rhythms and the mythical agitations of the elemental. We should rather
speak of this work, as a dynamic figuration of the matter, of painting
which deliberately sets out to surprise and to transcribe the tempestuous
substance of immediacy, in the rendering, but also in the rejoicing.” -
would call a discursive version of being here, but, rather a poetry of
matter, an animation, a plastic expression listening to fundamental
rhythms and the mythical agitations of the elemental. We should rather
speak of this work, as a dynamic figuration of the matter, of painting
which deliberately sets out to surprise and to transcribe the tempestuous
substance of immediacy, in the rendering, but also in the rejoicing.” -
Untitled 1970 30x42 in
* Claude Esteban (1935-2006) was a French poet, he wrote numerous essays on art and poetry. He wrote many prefaces for
many exhibition catalogs of painters such as Bacon, Braque, Chagall, Chillida and Giacometti.
“In fact, Fiedler in no way whatsoever dissimulates the exaltation that he has experienced, that he still feels before the
universal work of chance – the stripping of a wall, a footprint in the clay, the bite of frost, the play of sands in the dunes. Many
paintings try to be the tangible answer to this first brilliance, the answer to an emotion, not the reply of a spectacle.”
“How shall I confess that I prefer to look for the sources of a meditation in art and, perhaps, the prophecy of a grace – that
such an attitude, especially today, claims and comforts me – whereas others are content with reproducing or even like to
record, in a rather mean setting, the flagrantly fictitious nature of things, remains of a meal, dismantled engines, objects that
resemble so many others, but isolated, worn away from the natural context of use, Fiedler renders homage to the vigour and
vitality of perception. Even though it be the most humble, the least loaded of meanings – I think of that magnificent phrase by
Joseph Conrad in The Rover a book of values and of death: “It is very necessary that someone should be the last one under
here.” From the mouth of the sailor stripped of everything, even of hope in attaining the vortex, that confession is the sign of
another hope – the recognition of another Order, less partial than that of man. And I would say now to Fiedler: is it necessary
that all the hierarchy of our relationship with the world rests on the most simple of elements – necessary, nevertheless, in the
great constructions of the spirit and like the sailor in Conrad, destined to the most unfortunate of trials.”
“I believe that in this man, attentive, scrupulous, almost reverent when faced with the art he exercises, a feeling of
clairvoyance, an unusual alliance between initiative and moderation appears invincible, permitting him to better gauge the
urgency and difficulty of the task: to work in such a way that the Presence, that native rendering of the world is not to be seen
titled, disfigured, darkened by the forms, always too imperious, to which the artist wishes to subject it.”
many exhibition catalogs of painters such as Bacon, Braque, Chagall, Chillida and Giacometti.
“In fact, Fiedler in no way whatsoever dissimulates the exaltation that he has experienced, that he still feels before the
universal work of chance – the stripping of a wall, a footprint in the clay, the bite of frost, the play of sands in the dunes. Many
paintings try to be the tangible answer to this first brilliance, the answer to an emotion, not the reply of a spectacle.”
“How shall I confess that I prefer to look for the sources of a meditation in art and, perhaps, the prophecy of a grace – that
such an attitude, especially today, claims and comforts me – whereas others are content with reproducing or even like to
record, in a rather mean setting, the flagrantly fictitious nature of things, remains of a meal, dismantled engines, objects that
resemble so many others, but isolated, worn away from the natural context of use, Fiedler renders homage to the vigour and
vitality of perception. Even though it be the most humble, the least loaded of meanings – I think of that magnificent phrase by
Joseph Conrad in The Rover a book of values and of death: “It is very necessary that someone should be the last one under
here.” From the mouth of the sailor stripped of everything, even of hope in attaining the vortex, that confession is the sign of
another hope – the recognition of another Order, less partial than that of man. And I would say now to Fiedler: is it necessary
that all the hierarchy of our relationship with the world rests on the most simple of elements – necessary, nevertheless, in the
great constructions of the spirit and like the sailor in Conrad, destined to the most unfortunate of trials.”
“I believe that in this man, attentive, scrupulous, almost reverent when faced with the art he exercises, a feeling of
clairvoyance, an unusual alliance between initiative and moderation appears invincible, permitting him to better gauge the
urgency and difficulty of the task: to work in such a way that the Presence, that native rendering of the world is not to be seen
titled, disfigured, darkened by the forms, always too imperious, to which the artist wishes to subject it.”
“The canvases I refer to the canvasses where sobriety is always expressed more in the order
and rhythm, but still more manifestly in the measured, almost parsimonious use of the colors,
ochre or beiges with softened reflections interwoven in a point by an almost imperceptible pink,
proclaiming in their own way that reserve and nostalgia. It is as if the colors, also, could not be
conceded to us in the original glory of their substance but are veiled, evasive, as is offended
after a long wandering. And, suddenly, the one rather capricious arabesque of a circle evokes
chrome green, saffron yellow, the Kingdom of yore resplendent with pure color. It seems as if,
excessively severe with himself, the painter had forced himself to abandon the last kind sojourn
of sensitivity, in the same way as the poem by Jean the Cross, the itinerant nocturnal soul “in
the dark an in secret…”
and rhythm, but still more manifestly in the measured, almost parsimonious use of the colors,
ochre or beiges with softened reflections interwoven in a point by an almost imperceptible pink,
proclaiming in their own way that reserve and nostalgia. It is as if the colors, also, could not be
conceded to us in the original glory of their substance but are veiled, evasive, as is offended
after a long wandering. And, suddenly, the one rather capricious arabesque of a circle evokes
chrome green, saffron yellow, the Kingdom of yore resplendent with pure color. It seems as if,
excessively severe with himself, the painter had forced himself to abandon the last kind sojourn
of sensitivity, in the same way as the poem by Jean the Cross, the itinerant nocturnal soul “in
the dark an in secret…”
Untitled 1972 30x42in
“Fiedler affirms nothing or very little in this respect, but we are sure that he has known how to recognize, in the heart of the
night of the signs, that secret quality of adventure, that happiness, that emotion of the soul which certain strokes on a canvas,
a gesture or the unpremeditated inflection of a voice sometimes comes to sustain us.”
night of the signs, that secret quality of adventure, that happiness, that emotion of the soul which certain strokes on a canvas,
a gesture or the unpremeditated inflection of a voice sometimes comes to sustain us.”
Untitled, 1975, 36 x 25.2 in
“One of the most moving qualities of Fiedler is that he leaves his canvas open to argument,
provoking it, exasperating it at the mercy of his gaze and of ours. Without any doubt, that will
excite those who expect to find in the artistic work not so much a message from the oracle but
a form of active companionship in the midst of the ambiguity of the meetings and crossings of
the paths. Fiedler knows not the moral security than that of consigning, day by day, in his
journal – this picture, that one, this one, the unexpectedness of the journey. He is the most
restless of all of us. He simply invites us to join him on his path and, at nightfall, when the sky
declines and, with it, the heart – to share with him the same improbable stopping place.”
provoking it, exasperating it at the mercy of his gaze and of ours. Without any doubt, that will
excite those who expect to find in the artistic work not so much a message from the oracle but
a form of active companionship in the midst of the ambiguity of the meetings and crossings of
the paths. Fiedler knows not the moral security than that of consigning, day by day, in his
journal – this picture, that one, this one, the unexpectedness of the journey. He is the most
restless of all of us. He simply invites us to join him on his path and, at nightfall, when the sky
declines and, with it, the heart – to share with him the same improbable stopping place.”
