Nicolas Carréga, Abstract Composition, 1980s, Oil on Canvas

Nicolas Carrega
1914 - 1993 Painter, Sculptor, Engraver

Painter, sculptor, engraver, and medalist, he was born on February 21, 1914, in Bonifacio, Corsica, and died on January 29, 1993, in Versailles.

In 1921, he moved to Le Havre with his parents. During the summer holidays, he returned to Corsica. His life was divided between the Mediterranean and the English Channel.

These two poles of attraction would be a constant source of inspiration and creativity for his entire body of work.

In 1938, he began to paint and settled in Viroflay in the Yvelines department.

After winning a drawing prize in the Concours Général (a prestigious national competition for artists), he attended the open studios of Montparnasse and drawing classes in Paris, eventually becoming a drawing teacher in Versailles and head of a studio at the University of Paris.

Officer of the Order of Academic Palms and of National Devotion.

A figurative artist until the late 1950s, he gradually moved towards abstraction.

He participated in major salons, of which he was often a member, and regularly presented his works in solo exhibitions in France and abroad.

Since 1995, the Carrega donation has allowed his works to be permanently displayed in a room bearing his name in the Torrione of Bonifacio, his birthplace.

Solo Exhibitions

1948 Galerie Drouot-Provence

1951 Galerie Jacques Hamon, Le Havre

1954 Galerie Suillerot, Paris

1955 Galerie M.L. de Boer, Amsterdam

1956 Galerie Gérard Mourgue, Paris

1957 Musée des Beaux-Arts, Poitiers

1958 Galerie Jacques Hamon Le Havre

1960 University Gallery, Paris

1963 University Gallery, Paris

1964 Alice Juillard Gallery, Versailles

1966 Alice Juillard Gallery, Versailles

1975 House of Culture and Leisure, Saint-Étienne

1980 Écluzelles Studio

1982 Georges Garnier Gallery, Amiens

1983 Retrospective at the Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint)

Works in Museums

National Museum of Modern Art, Paris

Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris

Museum of the Province of Quebec

Louvois Chapel, Saint-Eustache Church, Viroflay

Pinacotheca of Athens

Élysée Palace, Paris

Paris City Hall

Museum of the Two World Wars National Hotel of Les Invalides, Paris

Hélène Boucher Museum, Boigneville

Museum of Fine Arts, Poitiers

André Malraux Museum of Fine Arts, Le Havre

Annaba City Hall

Mint Museum, Paris

Museum of Fine Arts, Nantes

Viroflay City Hall

Museum of Medals, Wroclaw, Poland

Collections of the State and the City of Paris

Exhibitions

Salon des Indépendants (member), Paris

Salon de la Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris

Salon Populiste, Paris

Salon des Jeunes Peintres, Paris

Salon d’Automne (member), Paris

Salon de l’Île-de-France, Versailles

Salon du Dessin et de la Peinture à l’Eau Paris.

Salon de Roman (Drôme)

Salon d’Art sacré (Salon of Sacred Art). Paris.

Salon Terres latines (Salon of Latin Lands). Paris.

Salon Peintres témoins de leur temps (Salon of Painters Witnessing Their Time). Paris.

Salon Comparaisons (Salon of Comparisons). Paris.

Salon d’Asnières (Salon of Asnières).

Salon de la Marine (Salon of the Navy). Paris.

Salon des Réalités nouvelles (Salon of New Realities). Paris.

Salon de Mai (May Salon). Paris.

Salon de Montrouge (Salon of Montrouge).

Salon des Arts (Salon of the Arts). Cergy-Pontoise.

Salon de la Jeune Gravure contemporaine (Salon of Young Contemporary Engraving). Paris.

Salon « Sud 92 », Issy-les-Moulineaux.

Salon de la Société des artistes décorateurs (Salon of the Society of Decorative Artists). Paris.

Group Exhibitions

1943 Salon de la Danse (Dance Salon). Galerie des Pyramides. Paris;

1944 Le sport dans l’art (Sport in Art). École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts). Paris

1946 Quelques peintres (Some Painters). Paris. Rio de Janeiro

Art et résistance (Art and Resistance). Musée national d’Art moderne (National Museum of Modern Art). Paris.

Contemporary Artists. Continental Art Gallery. Biarritz

Contemporary Artists. Saintes Museum of Fine Arts

1947 Music Evoked by Painters. Krieger Capucine Gallery. Paris.

Homage to Greece. Athens Art Gallery

1948 Some French Artists in South Bend

Some French Artists in Quebec

Corsiac Prize. Marseille School of Fine Arts.

Impressionists and Contemporary Artists. Hamon Gallery. Le Havre.

1951 Carréga, Du Jannerand, Roederer. Seine Gallery, Paris.

Paintings of France. Hamon Gallery, Le Havre.

People and Culture Prize. Annecy.

Subject Review, 3-4-5, Serigraphs. Marcel Sauthier Bookstore-Gallery, Paris.

1952 Young Painting. Museum of Fine Arts, Poitiers.

Inauguration of the new stores by the master interior designer Beaudoin. Le Havre.

1952 Young Painters Prize.

1953 Drouant David Gallery, Paris.

1953 Participation in Kermesse aux Étoiles (Visual Arts Stand), Tuileries Garden, Paris.

"The Girls," Monique Groote Gallery, Paris.

"Glory to Wine," Suillerot Gallery, Paris.

2nd, 3rd, and 4th Biennale, Menton.

1954 "Versailles," Suillerot Gallery, Paris.

"Nudes," Lebar Gallery, Paris.

International Serigraphy Exhibition, National Serigraphy Society, New York.

"The New," Bassano Gallery, Paris.

Contemporary French Painting, Stiebel Gallery, Paris.

Critics' Prize Selection, Saint-Placide Gallery, Paris.

Contemporary Artists. Suillerot Gallery, La Baule.

100 Watercolors and drawings acquired by collectors at the Kermesse aux Étoiles (Festival of Stars). Galerie de l’Élysée, Paris.

1955 “Discover and Promote,” Carpentier Gallery, Paris.

“Girls, Flowers, and Sea. 3,” Palais de la Méditerranée, Nice.

French Painters in Houston.
Traveling Exhibition. Selected for the Critics' Prize 1953-1954, Tokyo.

Watercolors and drawings from the Kermesse aux Étoiles. Carnavalet Museum, Paris.

“July 14th,” Suillerot Gallery, Paris.

Young French Painting, Offenbach am Main, Munich.

Painters Witnessing Their Time, Honfleur.

Painters Witnessing Their Time, Tours.

“July 14th,” Hamon Gallery, Le Havre.

1956 “Birds and Flowers. 3,” Saint-Placide Gallery. Paris

"Small Formats" Galerie Zéro Figure, Paris

"Carnival" Galerie Monique de Groote, Paris

"Recall and Presence" Galerie Barbizon, Paris

Drawings and Illustrations of Poems by Gérard Murail, Paris

"Below 0" Galerie Zéro Figure, Paris

"Faces of Childhood" Galerie Simone Badinier, Paris

Carréga, Sablé, Vignoles, Yankel. Galerie G. Mourgue, Paris

"Homage to Chardin" Galerie Chardin, Paris

"Days of France" Galerie Zéro Figure, Paris

"Holidays" Galerie Gérard Mourgue, Paris

Contemporary French Painting: The Established and Emerging Artists of Today, London

"Games" Galerie Saint-Placide, Paris

Amedeo Modigliani Drawing Prize Exhibition Casa della Cultura, Livorno.

1956 Contemporary Painters: from Utrillo to Picasso.

1957 Palais-Royal Garden, Paris.

Contemporary Painters at the Grenier-à-Sel, Honfleur.

"Saint-Germain-des-Prés" by 20 Painters. Barbizon Gallery, Paris.