Ceysson & Bénétière

Max Ernst entitled one of his most prominent works Europe after the rain. Where is Europe today? Not only Europe, but the world, the whole world as well as our own, inward? Are floods and mists coming after the rain? Aftermath! The sun, a renewal, a revival, an awakening rather than a reawakening: Springtime - Gustav Klimt’s Ver Sacrum has captured its blossoming of the senses, just like Botticelli and Larionov. The season of rejuvenation, as Bertold Brecht chanted alongside the folklorists. For better, for worst? The summer always ahead with wings of hope. It is the time of Secessions, of turmoil, of the cherries of May, of pacific marches, of longed beaches board up and imprisoned by pavements. Waiting for the fruits promised by the flowers? Building momentum! Modernity is a series of springtime! For a rebellion to sometimes bring forward a utopian reform that would extricate and wash daily life from the dirt of habits. For two centuries, art has been announcing “springtime”. Always to arouse the hope that “our life changes”. For things to change? To change in order to remain as they are?
Bernard Ceysson, 2020