Henri CASTELLA (1924-2017) - 113170A (1970)

Born in 1924 in Saint Priest (Rhône). He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon in 1943 and was awarded the UNAM Prize in Nice in 1954.

He met the painter Polakoff in Nice in 1966. A painter of "lyrical abstraction", he covers large sheets of kraft paper with acrylic and, on the background thus prepared, he lets the brush run in stiff and curves.
Between 1962 and 2000, he produced several designs and creations in the Rhône department: sculpture, mosaic, polyester stained glass (Caluire)...

Henri Castella painted directly on the floor, kneeling on the old parquet floor of his studio, so that his kraft paper would better absorb his fluid "kitchen". He prepares his colours by mixing glue and water in small pigment boxes. Then, he spreads his colors on the kraft paper, folds the sheets to better spread the material and leave room for the unexpected, in the hope of a work that will satisfy him, or not.