Marie Lucie Nessi-Valtat (French 1910-1992)

Marie-Lucie Nessi, born in Paris in 1910, was the elder of two children from the marriage of André Nessi, a Swiss citizen from Locarno, and Hélène Koehne, born in Seesen in the Harz mountains of Germany. When she had completed high school, Marie-Lucie, then 16 years old, convinced her parents to allow her to attend drawing classes. After nearly two years of studying plaster antiquities, Marie-Lucie completed her training in the ateliers of Billoul and André Lhote, at the Académie de La Grande Chaumière and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. With her fellow students she spent many evenings in the company of Jacques Hélion, Kisling or Foujita, whom they used to meet in the cafés of Montparnasse. On holiday in Ouistreham, on the north coast of France near Le Havre, Marie-Lucie Nessi met Jean Valtat, only son of Louis Valtat. They were married on 5 April 1932. Although her father-in-law Louis Valtat, encouraged her, Marie-Lucie Valtat hardly found time to paint, as she had to assist her husband, now Doctor Jean Valtat.

Up till the declaration of war in 1939, Marie-Lucie and Jean used to take their summer holidays in an old second-hand Amilcar, touring most of the countries of Europe. Marie-Lucie brought back numerous watercolours from these trips. Marie-Lucie brought Caroline into the world in September 1940, Elisabeth in September 1942, and, as Jean really wanted a son, in August 1944 they were followed by Louis-André. Since Dr. Valtat never had any other children, Caroline, Elisabeth and Louis-André are the only descendants of the painter Louis Valtat. In 1948, Jean Valtat, who had formed other attachments that drew him away from the family circle, decided on a complete and definitive break. He obtained a divorce in 1949, and henceforth Marie-Lucie and his children no longer existed for him. Obliged to look after the children's needs, Marie-Lucie Nessi started toproduce ceramics, hoping to turn her artistic talents to profit. From 1958, thanks to the assistance of her mother-in-law Suzanne Valtat, who remained firmly attached to her, Nessi abandoned ceramics and at last gave herself entirely to painting.

In 1971 Nessi-Valtat  signed an exclusivity agreement with Wally Findlay Galleries, which opened her to the American Market, selling in galleries in Chicago, New York, Beverly Hills, and Palm Beach.

Prizes:

1937 - Médaille d'Argent à l'Exposition universelle de 1937.
1977 - Médaille d'Argent du Grand Prix Humanitaire de France.

Exhibitions:

1937 - Exposition universelle de 1937
1959 - Galerie de Paris à Toulouse: Marie-Lucie Nessi, Peintures du 27 novembre au 12 décembre.
1960 - Galerie des peintres du XXe siècle, Galerie Aymonier: Exposition Peintres Néo-Impressionnistes: Louis Valtat, Cross, Nessi, Seyssaud, Signac, Maximilien Luce, Fer. Du 6 mai au 31 mai
1960 - New York, Galerie Félix Vercel: Joie de vivre, du 25 octobre au 15 novembre.
1961 - Galerie des peintres du XXe siècle, Aymonier: Marie-Lucie Nessi du 1er au 15 décembre.
1962 - Locarno en Suisse
1964 - La Galerie du Sagittaire à Lyon: Marie-Lucie Nessi du 21 février au 12 mars.
1967 - Galerie Marcel Bernheim, 33 rue La Boétie à Paris: Nessi du 6 au 18 avril.( A deux pas de la Galerie Denise Valtat ouverte par la seconde femme de Jean Valtat au no 59 rue La Boétie).
1971 - Galerie du Drap d'Or à Cannes: Nessi oeuvres récentes du 20 juillet au 15 août.
1972 - Wally Findlay Galleries à Chicago: Nessi
1973 - Wally Findlay Galleries à Beverly Hills & Palm Beach: Nessi.
1974 - Wally Findlay Galleries à New York & Beverly Hills: Nessi, contrat avec Wally Findlay Galleries.
1976 à 1978 - Wally Findlay Gelleries de Chicago: Nessi.
1977 - Galerie Wally Findlay à Paris: Nessi, Prix: Médaille d'Argent du Grand Prix Humanitaire de France.
1980 - Galerie Wally Findlay à Paris: Nessi
1981 - Galerie Wally Findlay à Paris, Hôtel Georges V
1986 - Wally Findlay Galleries, New York: Marie-Lucie Nessi-Valtat rétrospective 1950-1980 du 25 mars au 26 avril.
1989 - Wally Findlay Galleries, New York: Nessi puis French Post-Impressionnists the New Vanguard
1990 - Wally Findlay Galleries à Palm Beach, French Post Impressionists : The New Vanguard
1991 - Wally Findlay Galleries à New York et Palot Beach: Exposition de groupe Paintings for Collectors
1993 - Château de Breteuil à Breteuil, France: Hommage à Marie-Lucie Nessi-Valtat les 3 & 4 avril.
1998 - Granville, Musée du Vieux Granville: Des peintres au pays des huîtres du 11 juillet au 12 octobre.
2001 - Galerie des Grands Augustins, Paris: Marie-Lucie Nessi-Valtat, juin - juillet, catalogue d'exposition.

Sources: Association Nessi-Valtat, RoGallery