ALBERT COSTE

Albert Coste first learned about music thanks to his musician mother. In 1909, he simultaneously took courses at the Beaux Arts in Marseille and those at the music conservatory. A tram accident in 1916 forced him to have the index and middle fingers of his left hand amputated. He was permanently discharged, and his career as a cellist was compromised. From then on, he devoted himself more particularly to painting and continued his studies in Paris in Cormon's studio. From 1920, he participated in numerous group exhibitions and Salons in Paris and Aix-en-Provence, met Maurice Denis and frequented his workshop. With the latter, he created the frescoes of the Thonon chapel. In 1922, he settled near Aix while continuing to participate in the main collective exhibitions in Paris (Indépendants, Réalités Nouvelles, Salon d'Automne, etc.). In 1933, in Aix-en-Provence, the artist had his first personal exhibition, presented by Maurice Denis. In 1935 he was appointed professor at the School of Fine Arts in Aix en Provence. In 1941/1942, he met Albert Gleizes in Saint Rémy de Provence and remained deeply linked to him until his death. Gleizes notably presents the exhibition he held of his works in 1942 in Aix. From 1953 to 1956, he organized exhibitions to publicize the work of Gleizes and his disciples. He carried out numerous decorations for public buildings and particularly the Faculty of Law of Aix, whose architect was Fernand Pouillon. Albert Coste participated in a group exhibition with Gleizes, Delaunay, Villon, Herbin, Léger and in 1967 with Calder, Masson, Messagier. First painting still lifes and various subjects in a spirit close to Gauguin and the Nabis, he then embarked on the path of abstraction, with compositions very close to Gleizes, then in agreement with his general spirit of the French abstraction of the post-war period, around Bissière, Manessier, Lapicque. His works are today kept at the Albert Gleizes Foundation in Paris, at the Longchamp Museum in Marseille, at the Réattu Museum in Arles, at the Carpentras City Museum.