Valentin Alberton
Egg tempera on wood — organic forms, between the figurative and the abstract
Information
Based in
Fontainebleau, France
Status
Avanvue Selection
Medium
Egg tempera on wood
Overview
Valentin Alberton paints with egg tempera on wood, an ancient technique he has made his own. From an initially free-flowing stroke emerge organic forms, reminiscent of bodies and flesh, which he then shapes with light until a figure is revealed.
He does not tell a story; he explores the medium. His paintings are unsettling yet seem familiar, and one never sees the same thing twice: we search for faces in them, we sense presences. His discovery of tempera marked a turning point and gave his series a new coherence, straddling the boundary between the figurative and the abstract.
My view
Presented by Avanvue, August 2026.
Standing before his paintings, you think you recognize a body, a face, but then the image shifts and becomes something else. Nothing stays fixed. The tempera, matte and soft, makes it all seem almost alive. That’s what I like about his work: you stand there, a little bewildered, trying to make sense of what you’re seeing.
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