In 1965 and 1966, Luis Vidal Molné made two ceramic murals on either side of the building that stands at the entrance to Monaco’s Exotic Garden. On the outer façade, the decorative panel created in 1965 depicts abstract and figurative motifs, stars, leaves, fish, and sails, at the centre of which is...
In 1965 and 1966, Luis Vidal Molné made two ceramic murals on either side of the building that stands at the entrance to Monaco’s Exotic Garden. On the outer façade, the decorative panel created in 1965 depicts abstract and figurative motifs, stars, leaves, fish, and sails, at the centre of which is the artist’s favourite animal, the cockerel. Inside the garden, the panel made in 1966 is a sort of cavalcade, representing the sun and stars, horses, and the muses, in perpetual, irresistible movement, carried by the wind. The Monegasque artist used a number of the symbols that featured on the 1964 ceramic work that adorned Monaco’s old railway station. An exponent of the Spanish expressionist movement, Molné’s creations were an invitation to dream.
Born in Barcelona on 27 September 1907, Luis Vidal Molné’s early education took place in his father’s publishing workshop. He then studied at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. He fled the Franco dictatorship and settled in the Principality with his brother Ignasi Vidal, in the early 1940s. During the war, he joined the Groupe des Artistes Modernes (GAM) based in Monaco. A prolific artist, he explored a variety of artistic techniques. A painter, lithographer, poster artist, ceramic artist, and filmmaker, he illustrated numerous Monegasque publications. He was often asked to illustrate books produced in tribute to the Princely Family. A friend of Picasso and Salvador Dalí, the Catalan painter developed a dreamlike and surrealist style. His work features many themes from Spanish culture. He held a number of solo exhibitions in Europe and the United States. Molné acquired Monegasque nationality in 1961. He died in 1970. Two years after his death, Prince Rainier III paid him a final tribute with a major retrospective dedicated to his work.
