Mosaïque de marbre

This 60 square metre marble and pebble mosaic, made up of 77 tiles, is typical of the artist’s work: composite, eclectic, monumental, colourful. A forest of plant motifs evokes one of his favourite themes: nature, especially that of the south-west. The mosaic echoes his visual creations in which trees, forests, countryside and landscapes occupy a central place. The autumn colours so beloved by the artist set the tone for the whole composition, which is somewhat expressionist but resolutely poetic. The mural was installed by the artist in 1985, at around the same time the new district of Fontvieille was created.

Born in 1926, Marc-Antoine Bissière, otherwise known as Louttre B., was the son of painter Roger Bissière, from whom he also learned his craft. He took part in the Salon de Mai in Paris, where he met Nicolas de Staël in 1949. Louttre B. then established his studio in Paris. Trained in painting buildings, he repainted Nicolas de Staël’s château in Ménerbes, in the Vaucluse, in 1954. That same year, he married Laure Latapie, daughter of the painter and engraver Louis Latapie, with whom Roger Bissière, Amédée Ozenfant, and Georges Braque created the association known as Les Castors de Montsouris. He began working in engraving in 1960 and produced monumental engravings with Marcel Fiorini. He was a pioneer of sand painting, but on the death of his father in 1964, he abandoned pictorial art. In the mid-1960s, he began making monumental sculptures in concrete, constantly developing his techniques and studying new materials: illustrated books, stained glass, tapestry, and sculpting with concrete, cement, stone, and burnt wood. After the turn of the millennium, he returned to painting and continued his engraving, holding personal exhibitions of his work. He died in 2012.