Can one be a contemporary artist worthy of the name, while referring to the Renaissance and the napoleonic period? The question, which seems inappropriate ? since above all, what counts is emotion ? deserves however to be asked. For in these modern times where the ultra-famous captain of French industry and art collector François Pinault is considering creating a modern art foundation in order to enhance the value of living French art, we really need to wonder about the recent disaffection since the last war. In European manuals, according to many art historians, and sometimes among critics.
Lack of sufficient knowledge, lack of taste, or a combination of the two? For want of looking closely? In Patrice Vermeilleâs case, several of these remarks come to mind. First of all, the works of this painter, originally from Nancy, (he was born in 1937) and professor at the Fine Arts School in Montpellier, interest young people ? as proves their attendance on opening day.
They are interested in many aspects of his work, from his consummate drawing and engraving, to his penchant for the fantastic ? cosmic, sublime, brightly colored, cut into forms as sharp as those of swords, steel blades and surgical scalpels. Beautiful and frightening at the same time ? meaning they are as fascinating as they are disturbing. Enough to fire up the enthusiasm of younger generations, fond of strong sensations and interstellar universes.
It is a phenomenon of the times. At best, the importance is relegated to specialized magazines, and at the worst, we forget to visit the sites on the Internet where our culture is running along at a good pace.
For all that, could Patrice Vermeille be considered as some sort of underground artist? At his age, with his quasi-legendary modesty and his immoderate respect of others? Itâs difficult to say. But all the same, heâs one of the rare painters of his generation to have dared to draw and color using a computer, as well as having produced a CD-ROM assembling the totality of his output ? over a thousand works, explanations, texts, and testimonies. Quite a feat, which immediately brings to mind the question: why hasnât a retrospective of his work already been organized in Montpellier?
What do we learn in the CD-ROM? Enough to give more meaning to his current exhibition. And this is necessary, as on its own it isnât likely to give a true idea of the Herculean task sustained for the past thirty years. Two notable references to summarize the essential: one in favor of the Italian renaissance painter Le Parmesan, the other for the painter Anne-Louis Girodet, and her major work Le Tombeau, created in 1801 for the Malmaison castle, where the painting can still be seen.
On the one hand, an artist who died young, such as Egon Schiele, and adept of the pure line, of sublime beauty, mannerist in a way no one would dare to be now (except in the cinema) and defender of angels. On the other, another mannerist, but in the napoleonic style, with a mix of emphasis, romanticism, pain and a bit of the accursed. Quite a program with which Vermeille doesnât fail to grapple, showing an ardor in his work that contrasts sharply with his public personality.
The result: his exhibition is titled The Angel and a few others. It is as dazzling as the colors he uses: grass green, stormy orange, jet black, fire yellow. Sometimes the angel has the face of a chubby Italian putto, sometimes the elongated and sensual forms of neoclassical virgins, or the diabolical pupils of the Apocalypse horsemen. Their wings have exploded into as many fragments of crystal, as cutting as sharkâs teeth. The spaces they evolve in are endless: transparent, stratified, sometimes spherical, intergalactic, traced to the golden number and powerfully intrusive.
Flowing over them is music that can be sensed, by dint of looking, aggravated by heavy accents, throbbing, symphonic, harmonious and chilling; wind and string instruments strike up hymns, that are terrifying and dense, yet beautiful, describing our worldâs splendor and decadence.

Lise OTT
 (Midi Libre, Wednesday, December 13, 2000)