Marc Baumann began his artistic training at theÉcole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs between 1940 and 1947, working in the Raymond Legueult, this gave him a solid academic background in the plastic arts. In 1945, he was awarded the François-Desnoyer workshop honour prize, this distinction encouraged his commitment to creation. During the 1950s, he designed tapestry cartoons for production in Aubusson and for the manufacture of Gobelins works such as Spring (1950) or Poem to the sea (1951) bear witness to his involvement in the revival of art tapestry.
Gradually, his work evolved: towards 1980, marc Baumann makes the transition to abstraction. This change marked a stylistic renewal and an exploration of forms, colours and compositions free of traditional figures. He adopted a variety of techniques, including oil on canvas and lithography, drawing this which enables her to refine a personal plastic language and experiment with materials, gestures and space.
His work is regularly exhibited: in Parisian galleries in the 1970s and 1980s, then at numerous salons such as the Salon d'Automne, the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and the Salon des Peintres du Mantois. Several solo exhibitions have marked his career, confirming the recognition of his work. His work continues to attract attention at auctions and retrospectives (notably in 1999, 2001 and early 2016), confirming his permanent place in the French artistic landscape.
Marc Baumann's body of work is characterised by a diversity of media and a constant search for a balance between plastic rigour and formal freedom. His tapestries, paintings and lithographs bear witness to a mastery of technique and a desire to explore the relationship between texture, colour and abstraction. Some of his works are held in public collections, notably the National furniture and Centre national des arts plastiques, this is a sign of institutional recognition of his work.
Marc Baumann is an artist with a long-term commitment, who has succeeded in combining tradition via academic training and the work of tapestry and modernity, integrating abstraction and diversifying artistic practices. His multiple and coherent works contribute to the memory of French abstract art in the second half of the XXᵉ century, and bear witness to the persistence of an artistic approach based on formal demands, experimentation and continuity.
