The Czech artist Luboš Plný could have remained an outsider, turned towards his inner demons, like many figures of art brut, this name coined by the painter Jean Dubuffet to designate self-taught creators considered crazy or tormented non-conformists. But the French advertising film producer and collector Bruno Decharme, passing through Prague in 2007, was able to verify the strength of his spectacular anatomical drawings.
Unfortunately, when the 60-year-old artist, who suffers from mental disorders, enjoys exceptional commercial and critical success, the relationship with his discoverer turns into a financial confrontation. For thirteen years, the affable art lover was Plný’s exclusive representative, his intermediary with the galleries, and the undisputed architect of his success. Thirteen years of cloudless complicity, consecrated, in 2017, by a presence at the Venice Biennale and, in October 2021, by a notable exhibition at FIAC, at the stand of the Christian Berst gallery, specialized in raw art.
In business since 2009
Today, between the artist and his agent, nothing is going well. In fact, Plný claims almost €146,000 supposedly unpaid from Bruno Decharme out of a total of 62 works. The artist also points out the possible “disappearance” of 43 pieces, with a global value estimated at more than 800,000 euros according to his calculations. Their dispute is now in the hands of their respective lawyers in Prague.
The case, which has not yet been brought before the judges, has everything to worry the small community of art brut and even more so the world of museums, where Bruno Decharme is considered ” an eye “, generous with it. In June 2021, having just turned seventy, he donated to the Pompidou Center nearly a thousand works of gross art, estimated at around 15 million euros, including eight works by Plný, which complement two drawings previously acquired by the institution. The challenge is even more important as an exhibition of his collection is scheduled to be held at the Grand Palais in 2024.
“Everything was verbal, it was a mistake. » Bruno Decharme
When the artist’s environment summons ” lies “ Y “Abuse of Weakness”Bruno Decharme yells at “paranoid delusion”. The two men have been in business since 2009. On the occasion of a first exhibition that he organizes in the Parisian suburbs, Bruno Decharme receives from the sales made the commission that is normally distributed to the galleries, that is, 50%, paid to his association, ABCD. , based in Montreuil and Prague.
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