Pierre-Marie BRISSON

Pierre-Marie Brisson – Biography, Carborundum Prints and Original Lithographs

Pierre-Marie Brisson is a French painter and printmaker, born in Orléans on 11 June 1955. Self-taught, he has divided his life between Paris and the walled town of Aigues-Mortes in the Camargue. A childhood fascination with archaeology and prehistory runs through five decades of work: simple, almost cave-like figures set against thick, scraped and collaged grounds that recall old plaster and faded frescoes. A printmaker since 1979, he is one of the artists who took up the carborundum print, and his original prints are collected on both sides of the Atlantic.

At Le Coin des Arts you will currently find two sheets: Attrapeur de montagne (1991), a large colour engraving from an edition of just 16, and the lithograph Chaque chose en son temps I (1999), printed by Clot, Bramsen et Georges in Paris and offered here as an artist’s proof. A companion lithograph, Chaque chose en son temps, has already been sold. Each was chosen for the quality of the impression, the edition and the condition of the paper.

The print as excavation: Brisson’s technique

Brisson speaks of painting as a cycle of invention and excavation, building layers and scraping them back. The carborundum process suits that instinct perfectly. Rather than cutting into the plate, the artist paints on it with silicon carbide grit bound in resin; the grit holds the ink like grained stone, giving deep velvety blacks and a raised, embossed surface. The method was developed in Paris by Henri Goetz and was taken up by Antoni Clavé, Joan Miró and Antoni Tàpies. Brisson also works in etching and aquatint, and in lithography. For the technical background, see our notes on intaglio.

His lithographs belong to a different register. Prints such as Chaque chose en son temps I (1999), an image of 39 × 39 cm on a sheet of 65 × 48 cm, were drawn for Clot, Bramsen et Georges, the Paris workshop that continues the tradition of the printer Auguste Clot; in 2012 Brisson exhibited at the Atelier Clot itself. Here the layering is done in colour rather than in relief: each stone or plate adds a translucent film over the last, so that the image reads like a palimpsest. Attrapeur de montagne (1991), by contrast, is an engraving of some 64 × 50 cm in which line and superimposed colour trace the climb up a mountain face.

Early years in the Loire valley (1955–1978)

The youngest of four children, Brisson grew up in a farming family near Orléans, close to the region’s archaeological sites. He began painting at about fourteen, rather at the expense of his schoolwork, and from sixteen took a string of jobs, from farm labour to bookselling. Around 1972 he met the painter Bernard Saby, who encouraged him. He never attended a recognised art school, and he first showed his work in Orléans in the mid-1970s. In 1978 a journey to Italy introduced him to Renaissance painting and, above all, to Etruscan art, which became a lasting source.

Paris, the Pasnic workshop and a first New York show (1979–1990)

In 1979 Brisson settled in Paris and learnt printmaking at the Pasnic workshop, where he was introduced to carborundum etching. His American dealers also describe him as having learnt alongside Saby, Bram van Velde and James Coignard. In 1980 he had his first exhibition in New York and began working with the Paris publisher Bruno Roullard, and from 1981 he exhibited regularly in France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Canada and the United States. The 1980s produced his large carborundum sheets, often embossed and touched by hand, such as Trois rythmes égyptiens (1985), printed at Pasnic on handmade Moulin de Laroque paper and published by Vision Nouvelle.

Reception in Britain

We know of no major British museum exhibition devoted to Brisson. His presence in the UK has come chiefly through the print trade: GalleryOnline, a Surrey-based online gallery, notes that CCA Galleries hold an extensive collection of his prints. His market, by contrast, has been built largely in France and the United States, where galleries such as Franklin Bowles in New York and Caldwell Snyder in California show his paintings. For a buyer in Britain, buying from abroad, a careful description of the impression, the paper and the edition is all the more important. For a British collector, that makes him above all an artist to approach through the print, where the quality of the impression and the edition matter more than the name on the wall label.

Camargue light and museum shows (1990–2026)

In the 1990s Brisson moved to Aigues-Mortes, and the light and blue of the Mediterranean entered his palette; a keen sailor, he spends summers working on his boat on the Rhône. His dealers record a 1992 exhibition in Beirut, and in 1999 shows at the Städtisches Museum in Gelsenkirchen, the Fondation Carcan in Belgium and the Château de Lussan. French museums followed: Gaillac (2003), Cognac, Issoudun and Anglet (2004), the Musée Faure in Aix-les-Bains (2010), and Orléans (2016). His recurring motifs, Matisse’s palm fronds and dancers, Degas’s ballerinas, the athletes of ancient Greece, and a series of flags begun the day after 9/11, are joined by a book with the novelist Jean Rouaud, Les Corps infinis. From 6 March to 6 April 2026 the exhibition Traces filled the Palais de l’Archevêché in Arles; curated by Coco Dolle, it mixed paintings, folding screens and sculptures made from found objects, and Brisson also designed the poster for the city’s Easter feria and gave Arles one of his flag paintings. According to his galleries, his work is held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Musée de La Poste in Paris, and the Achenbach Foundation at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Collecting Pierre-Marie Brisson’s prints: a buyer’s guide

Edition. Editions range from tiny runs, such as the 16 impressions of Attrapeur de montagne, to 50, 75, 90 or 95, with artist’s proofs numbered in Roman numerals (for example EA VII/XV). See the printing.

Signature. Prints are signed in pencil, usually lower right, with the edition number lower left. See the signature.

No catalogue raisonné. As far as we know, none has been published. The useful references are the catalogues Gravures (Galerie Thierry Spira, 1998) and Estampes (Issoudun, 2004), and the printer’s and publisher’s details: Pasnic, Vision Nouvelle, Clot, Bramsen et Georges.

Surface. A carborundum print should show raised ink and embossing you can feel under raking light. A flat, glossy surface suggests a reproduction.

Unique works. Brisson’s mixed media on paper are one-offs, not prints; exhibition posters are neither.

Condition and framing. Heavy handmade sheets may cockle; choose framing with a deep mount that respects the relief. Our guarantees are set out on the authenticity page, and our guide explains what an original print is.

We select Brisson’s prints alongside those of Henri Goetz, James Coignard, Antoni Clavé and Henri Matisse, whose cut-outs he so often quotes. Explore contemporary art and our engravings and lithographs.

Sources and further reading

Estampes, Musée de l’Hospice Saint-Roch, Issoudun, 2004 · Gravures, Galerie Thierry Spira, 1998 · GalleryOnline – Pierre-Marie Brisson · Printed Editions – Pierre-Marie Brisson · Pierre-Marie Brisson catalogue (exhibitions, collections, bibliography) · Franklin Bowles Gallery – Biography · David Barnett Gallery · Objectif Gard – Traces, Arles, 2026