Michèle CAUSSIN-BELLON
(Doll)

Poupée Caussin-Bellon, an internationally recognized French artist, is distinguished by her exceptional creativity and a truly unique artistic technique: polychrome Tadelackt on wood, a natural coating without any chemicals or resins. Her discovery of this technique was born from her experiences as an interior designer specializing in the restoration of old and historic buildings (Louvre school), notably during her projects in Morocco, where she learned from experienced Moroccan plasterers. . This deep knowledge of materials then inspired her to explore new artistic frontiers. Until 2012, his artistic themes were primarily figurative, expressing emotions and personal experiences through recognizable forms. However, her artistic journey has led her to a new dimension, where she frees herself from drawing to let her material express itself through an abstraction imbued with movement and constantly evolving colors. This artistic evolution led her to create works characterized by refined, light shapes and harmonious moving color palettes. Poupée Caussin-Bellon's works have been exhibited all over the world, from the United States to Japan, including China, Spain, Italy and many other countries. She is represented in several prestigious galleries, notably in Aix-en-Provence, Lyon, Paris, and Beijing, China. His designs also appear in museum collections, such as the Henan Fine Arts Museum in China, the Matsuyama Museum in Japan, and the Kajita Museum in Japan, among others. In recognition of her exceptional talent, Poupée Caussin-Bellon has received numerous distinctions and medals over the years. She was awarded a medal in 2017 by the Academy of Arts-Sciences and Letters, and in 2023, the Polish Ministry of Culture distinguished her exceptional work on Tadelackt with “The Breath of My Soul”. Her commitment to art also extends to teaching, as she shared her passion by teaching drawing, perspective and live modeling for 35 years. She is also the founder of the association "l'Art de Cœur de l'Art" and organized the major International Pastel Biennials in Lyon and Sanary, bringing together artists and visitors from all over the world. Poupée Caussin-Bellon embodies the very essence of the accomplished artist, a tireless traveler of artistic expression who has left an indelible mark on the world of contemporary art.

Caussin-Bellon, a French artist known as Poupée, and recognized internationally, stands out for her exceptional creativity and a truly unique artistic technique: polychrome Tadelakt on wood, a natural coating without any chemicals or resins. Thanks to this technique, Caussin-Bellon is nicknamed "the painter of marble with a velvet touch".

Caussin-Bellon graduated from the Beaux-Arts and holds a Master's degree in Design and Interior Architecture from the Ecole Camondo in Paris. After that, she spent three years at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris to complete her training.

Until 2012, her artistic themes were mainly figurative, expressing emotions and personal experiences through recognizable forms. Inspired by the great French painter Jacques Truphémus, her Master and friend, Caussin-Bellon guides her artistic journey towards a new era, where she transcends the line to offer her material the power to reveal itself through a captivating abstraction, woven with movements and constantly evolving hues.

His artistic works, both sensitive and personal, have evolved from pastels to his distinctive tadelakt technique, making him a recognized innovator in the world of contemporary art internationally.

Artist mixes plaster, stone, water and air with colored powders to create a thick substance that he applies to the canvas. With quick and precise gestures, he uses knives and trowels to defy the evaporation of water.

His creations are featured in numerous private collections and have been exhibited in the United States, Brazil, China, Japan, Korea, Israel, Spain, Poland, Italy, Russia, Denmark, Canada, England and France.

Caussin-Bellon has won numerous artistic awards and distinctions over the past 40 years. She was awarded a medal in 2017 by the Arts-Sciences et Lettres. In 2023, she was honored by the Polish Ministry of Culture.

Caussin-Bellon's works have been and still are exhibited in museums around the world:

The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Museum of Fine Arts, Henan, China

The Matsuyma Museum, Japan

Kajita Museum, Japan

The Museum of Fine Arts, Onishi-AOI, Japan

The Museum of Cuneo, Italy

The Museum of Zadar, Croatia

Caussin-Bellon's unique technique explained by the artist herself:

“I learned this technique with the old Moroccan plasterers during my construction sites in this country when I practiced my first profession as an interior designer, specializing in the restoration of old and historic buildings (Louvre school).

The Tadelakt coating, polychrome on wood, which I am the only one in the world to practice in pictorial technique, is composed of: lime, marble powder and mineral pigment powder with a very precise binder that I make myself, I work on wood that I prepare meticulously before. Then, I wet my different pots with a very precise quantity of water (if there is too much my painting risks cracking, if there is not enough water it makes lumps). All these dosages are the result of years of testing, research and work.

Once my pots are wet, I have about 30 minutes to make my painting and the success depends a lot on the temperature. I have to work outside between 15° and 19°. Then, I am like a plasterer, I make the painting very quickly with different metal spatulas. When I think my painting is dry, I sand it very delicately with papers used by car body repairers, I vacuum my painting delicately for a long time and finally for hours, I crush with regular and fairly strong pressure with river pebbles. The lime which is volatile disappears and remains on the compacted surface; the marble and stone pigments which are the colors. It takes about 40 hours of polishing for a painting of 80 cm x 80 cm which gives my paintings a perfectly smooth and shiny appearance, an incomparable luminosity.

In a way, I reconstruct marble upside down that people can caress like marble or a wall.”