Bernard Rancillac (1931-2021) is a French painter and sculptor.
He did not follow a classical path to become an artist, while working as a teacher, he took printmaking courses.
After abandoning abstract painting in 1962, he became one of the leaders of Narrative Figuration, a movement that is characterized by a return to the subject, a painting of everyday life or current events, which highlights the socio-cultural issues of the time.
He thus draws a critical portrait of his time, depicting the Vietnam War, decolonization and poverty in developing countries.
News will be the breeding ground for Bernard Rancillac's painting.
In the years 1965-1966, Rancillac discovered jazz, to best transcribe the spirit of the moment, African American culture and the night world, he chose to work from photographic documents, rather than sketches.
From 1972 to 1976, Rancillac initiated a series of portraits of great jazzmen, such as Miles Davis, Diana Ross, or Nat Adderley, created from anonymous snapshots.
These photographs, projected onto the canvas, are transposed into a drawing.
All his life, he will be a committed artist.

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“At the origin of all artistic creation you need an emotion, very often for me it is of a political nature even when I paint Mickeys and jazz musicians, cars or movie stars.”
‍Bernard Rancillac