Croiser le faire
Exhibition by István Pető

Building a Pyramid

"I compare the creation of my paintings to the construction of a pyramid. Building materials and stones are needed to construct the pyramid. I build with colors and brushstrokes. The stones of the first layer form the foundation. The positions of the second layer are already determined by the first. Then comes the third layer, and so on. It's the same with painting. The brushstrokes that come after the first are no longer as free because you have to take into account what is already there. When the last stone is placed at the top of the pyramid, the construction is complete. I also finish the canvas with a final brushstroke.

The difference is that I never know in advance where this last touch will be placed or what shape it will take, unlike in the pyramid, where the last stone has its assigned place. In the painting, this place is always waiting to be found."

István Pető, quoted by Noémi Szabo, art historian

Painter and engraver István Pető was born in Hungary in 1955. He began his art studies at the Academy of Applied Arts in Budapest, then continued them at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He settled in France in 1984 and has lived and worked in his studio in Saint-Denis for the past 40 years. He has had numerous exhibitions both in France and abroad: Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Argentina, Taiwan, and elsewhere.