His presidential portraits of Georges Pompidou and François Mitterrand may decorate the Palais de l’Elysée, but the French painter Jean Olivier Hucleux remains largely unknown. After exhibiting a disquieting series of photo-based “funeral” paintings at Documenta V, in 1972, Hucleux received a commission to paint the faces of fame: Picasso, Beckett, Warhol, and Beuys are among the large-scale likenesses that turned their maker into the nation’s official portraitist par excellence. Organized by in-house curator Thierry Raspail, this 180-work survey promises a fresh look at the painter whose pantheon honors the art of painting as much as it pays tribute to the illustrious figures depicted.
