Artist Biography
PHILIPPE COSTA
Philippe COSTA was born in BASTIA (Corsica) on April 28, 1923.
He studied at the Lycée de Bastia, where he was a student of SARTHOU. Fascinated by a PAUL KLEE watercolor at the age of ten, he felt the first revelation of a calling to be a painter.
He was a student at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris from 1939 to 1942, then at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1943.
He was thus a student of ROLAND, OUDOT, DESNOYER, and LACAZE. At the same time, he met DUNOYER DE SEGONZAC.
He interrupted his studies at the end of 1943 and joined the Resistance. That same year, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre.
He then joined the Army and fought in the last two years of the 1939-1945 War, participating in the Provence Landings and the Italian Campaign. Afterwards, he fought in the Indochina War and at the beginning of the Algerian War. He was discharged in 1954 due to injuries.
He created numerous decorations for the Théâtre des Armées from 1951 to 1954.
In 1945, he frequented the circles of St Germain des Prés, Montparnasse, and the Latin Quarter, where he met BORIS VIAN.
In 1956, he was an intern at the Direction des Musées de France for 4 months.
His artistic activities:
From 1951 to 1954: Decoration for the Théâtre des Armées.
In 1954: 2nd MARTINI Prize for the most beautiful poster.
In 1955: Exhibition in Avignon.
In 1957: Exhibition in Cassis.
In 1963: Participation in the Grand Prix de Peinture of the Avignon Dramatic Art Festival.
In 1964: Decoration of the Cité Universitaire de Médecine in Marseille.
In 1965: Project for the decoration of a Chapel in Bazoilles; and, Exhibition in Enghien les Bains.
In 1966, 1968, 1970: Exhibitions in Montmorency.
In 1967: Exhibition at the Montmagny Town Hall. The Mayor of the town purchased one of the exhibited paintings.
In 1972: Exhibition at the DUNCAN Gallery in Paris.
In 1973, he settled in Provence, where he was appointed University Administrative Secretary at the Aix en Provence Rectory. Operated on in 1974, illness forced him to stop working. His artistic activity then fully blossomed, and it helped him overcome his disability in the last years of his life in SAINT-CANNAT.
In 1976: Exhibition at the Palais des Congrès in Aix en Provence.
Exhibitions at Arts Inter, in Toulon; in Marseille, Montpellier, Arles, Avignon, Aix en Provence.
Silver Medals in 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982.
Exhibitions in Monaco, Bollène, Château Arnoux, Marseille, and SAINT-CANNAT.
In 1989, L’ARC, Galerie de Marseille, had him participate in an exhibition in New York.
An ABSTRACTO FIGURATIVE painter, a great lover of nature in all its forms, Philippe COSTA drew inspiration from it and recreated it.
His work expresses life; his humor shines through in many of his pieces. Everyone can find themselves in it, depending on their sensitivity and perspective.
He was the painter of color harmony. He felt an imperative need to paint and draw. Everything he found served as a medium for his works. Painting was his life.
He passed away on August 16, 1990.