Alfred Manessier, 1949
© Jeanne Bucher Jaeger
Alfred Manessier
(1911-1993)
The painter Alfred Manessier was a leading artist in the post-war Lyrical Abstraction movement. His sensitive and profound work oscillates between religious and profane art.
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Alfred Manessier’s early life and artistic training
Alfred Manessier was born into a family of craftsmen on 5 December 1911 in Saint-Ouen—a town in the Baie de Somme estuary. Caught between the sea and the countryside, the region of Manessier’s birth in the north of France would nurture the artist through childhood and inspire his calling as a painter. Alfred Manessier grew up with his maternal grandparents during the First World War, splitting his time between Picardy and Normandy. As a teenager, he was sent to the Lycée Frédéric-Petit boarding school in Amiens. It was a heartbreaking move for the young Manessier, who spoke of it a “rupture of [his] childhood paradise”. From the age of 12, Alfred Manessier began painting his first watercolour works in the Baie de Somme, encouraged by his entourage. Inspired by the Picardy countryside and the coast, as well as the delicate, changing light of the Baie de Somme, Alfred Manessier did not shy away from painting his surroundings directly, setting his easel firmly in the local landscape.
Alfred Manessier began attending academic classes at the École Régionale des Beaux-Arts in Amiens in 1924 and was subsequently admitted to the painting department of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1929. The artist did not, however, enrol at the latter until 1931, when he began taking classes in architecture in accordance with his father’s wishes.
The painter Alfred Manessier in Paris: At the of the post-war lyrical abstraction movement
It was, nonetheless, in painting that the young artist found his calling. On the fringes of the École des Beaux-Arts, Alfred Manessier regularly visited the Musée du Louvre to copy the works of Tintoretto, Titian, Rubens and Rembrandt—whom he admired more than anyone else. It was there that the artist met the painter Jean Le Moal, a copyist like him who would become a dear friend of his. In Paris, he settled in Montrouge and then in the 6th arrondissement, not far from André Masson’s studio. Alfred Manessier also attended a number of private art schools in Montparnasse such as the Académie Ranson, where he followed Roger Bissière’s classes on fresco techniques in the company of Jean Le Moal.
After the call for military service in April 1935 and the deaths of his father and maternal grandfather in the spring of 1936, Alfred Manessier was forced to take a break from painting to help his mother run the family wine and brandy wholesale business, which he did until it closed in December 1937.
On his return to Paris in 1938, Alfred Manessier decided to devote himself entirely to painting. At the end of the year, he married Thérèse Simonnet. The couple went on to have two children: Jean-Baptiste (born in 1940) and Christine (born in 1945). The painter then moved to the 15th arrondissement of Paris, where he set up his house and studio at 203 Rue de Vaugirard. Not far from the painter Gustave Singier and the sculptor Constantin Brancusi, Alfred Manessier worked at the studio for some 33 years.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, Alfred Manessier was forced once again to withdraw from painting, which he did for a period of two years. On his return to Paris in 1942, Alfred Manessier started painting again and bought a small peasant house called Le Bignon in the Perche region of France. After the war, he received many artist friends at the house, including the sculptor and engraver Henri-Georges Adam, the painters Elvire Jan and Gustave Singier, and the poet Camille Bourniquel. The latter visited Manessier’s studio to buy his works of art and became a close friend of the artist. Alfred Manessier went on a spiritual retreat with Bourniquel at the Grande Trappe de Soligny in September 1943, which had a profound effect on his artistic sensibilities and work.
Back in Paris, Alfred Manessier immersed himself in the vibrant post-war art scene. He took part in the first Salon de Mai exhibition, where he exhibited in 1945, as well as the Salon d’Automne de la Libération. Alfred Manessier frequented a circle of artists who, like him, had chosen non-figurative painting as their artistic path, exhibiting with artists such as Jean Le Moal, Jean Bazaine, Maurice Estève and Gustave Singier at the Galerie de France. Alfred Manessier also signed a contract with the Galerie René Drouin, which tied him into a partnership from 1944 to 1948. The painter also presented his works at the Galerie Jeanne Bucher in Paris and at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York, where a solo exhibition was dedicated to his work in 1953. This was soon followed by the first museum acquisitions of his work when the Musée National d’Art Moderne bought his Combats de coqs in 1944 and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes bought his painting Salve Regina in 1947.
Alfred Manessier and the decorative arts
Towards the end of the 1940s, Manessier turned his attention to works in stained glass. The artist’s friend Georges Rouault had already hinted at a resonance between Manessier’s works on canvas and the nature of stained glass works. In December 1948, Manessier received his first stained glass commission for a church—for the church of Saint-Agathe des Bréseux, near Besançon. This marked the beginning of a long period of collaboration between the painter and master glassmakers, as well as between the artist and the realm of religious art. From that point onwards, numerous stained-glass works were produced by the artist for various churches in France and abroad. Notable examples in France include churches in Paris, Céret, Locronan, Le Pouldu, and above all Abbeville, where a series of 31 stained glass works of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ adorn the church of Saint-Sépulcre.
In addition, Manessier developed a fascination with tapestry techniques, working with master weavers—such as those at the Plasse Le Caisne studio—on several monumental tapestries created for churches and secular spaces such as the French Embassy in Washington, the Maison de la Radio in Paris and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Manessier also worked on performing arts projects, designing theatre sets and costumes for productions such as Decameron by Boccaccio—a ballet choreographed by Léonide Massine for the Nervi Festival in Italy in 1960. In 1963, the artist created the costumes for Brecht’s Life of Galileo at the Théâtre National Populaire in Paris.
Manessier also explored the printing technique of lithography, creating, among other things, an album of fifteen lithographs on the theme of Easter, which was produced in Barcelona in 1978. The artist also illustrated one of the elegies in Léopold Sédar Senghor’s collection of Élégies majeures.
Alfred Manessier and religious art
Manessier developed a strong association with religious art throughout his career as an artist. Painting, stained glass and tapestry works were the artist’s media of choice for his non-figurative interpretations of religious subjects, saints and the life and Passion of Christ. In 1962, Manessier presented a series of large-format paintings on the theme of the Passion of Christ and Easter at the Venice Biennale, where he was awarded the Grand Prize for painting. In 1971, twelve tapestries on the theme of the Spiritual Canticle by St. John of the Cross were exhibited, with other works, at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. In 1988, thirty-three major works of art on the Passion of Christ were presented in a touring exhibition that travelled in France, Luxembourg, Sweden and Ireland.
Light and nature at the heart of Alfred Manessier’s paintings
Alfred Manessier’s body of work was closely connected to his external environment. In the summer of 1948, Manessier returned to Le Crotoy, a port town in the Baie de Somme, after an absence of ten years. Reunited with the haunts of his childhood, he was inspired to create a whole series of oil paintings on the theme of the Baie de la Somme and the North Sea. This place and its light never ceased to inspire Manessier throughout his artistic career.
Manessier’s travels were also important sources of inspiration for the artist, triggering profound artistic developments in his body of work. A trip to the Netherlands in February 1955 at the time of Rembrandt’s double retrospective inspired Manessier to create a series of paintings in a luminous palette. From 1958 to 1959, a two-part stay in Haute-Provence, near the Verdon, encouraged the painter to embrace a bold, graphic style. Regular trips to Spain, where he visited the Ermita de Lucchente near Valencia between 1963 and 1985, also had a profound effect on the artist, who also travelled to Canada towards the end of the 1960s, as well as Algeria and Senegal, among other destinations.
Sensitive to political events, Manessier painted large socially engaged works on political subjects, such as Le Procès de Burgos, Vietnam and Hommage à Mgr Oscar Arnolfo Romero, as well as works on the slums of Brazil.
Settled definitively in Émancé, near Paris, from 1973 onwards, Manessier created a series of paintings inspired by the wheat-growing plains of the Beauce region.
The painter Alfred Manessier’s international recognition
Transcending borders, Alfred Manessier’s work was exhibited in Europe and the United States on a regular basis, even making it to Senegal.
In 1950, the painter was selected as one of seven artists to exhibit his works as part of the French Pavilion at the 25th Venice Biennale. This was followed by a series of accolades: in 1953, Manessier was awarded the First Prize for painting at the São Paolo Biennale; in 1955, he was awarded the Grand Prize for painting by the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh; and in 1962, he received the Grand Prize for painting at the Venice Biennale.
A number of major retrospectives dedicated to Manessier’s work have been presented over the years in France and abroad. In 1955, a retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work was held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and then at the Stedelijk van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven in the Netherlands. A touring solo exhibition of his work was also organised between 1958 and 1959, travelling from Hanover and Essen in Germany to The Hague in the Netherlands and Zurich in Switzerland. Two solo exhibitions of Manessier’s work were presented at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. and then at the University of Notre-Dame in Indiana in 1964. Several retrospectives were also presented in Scandinavian countries, including Norway in 1965 and 1969 and Sweden in 1965 and 1984. In the autumn of 1973, a touring retrospective exhibition of the painter’s work was organised in Portugal, travelling from the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon to the Soares dos Reis Museum in Porto. A solo exhibition of Manessier’s art was presented at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Neuchâtel, France, in 1974, and a touring exhibition of his work travelled through Austria the same year. A solo exhibition of the artist’s work entitled Manessier, le Regard, la Couleur, la Pierre, 40 ans de lithographie travelled the world on an extensive tour between 1989 and 1991, appearing in Latin America and Japan, as well as Greece, Turkey and Egypt. Between 1992 and 1993, a major touring Manessier retrospective was presented successively at the Grand Palais in Paris, the Villa Médicis in Rome and the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.
The painter Alfred Manessier died on 1 August 1993 in Orléans, France, as the result of a car accident.
© Diane de Polignac Gallery / Astrid de Monteverde
Translation: Lucy Johnston
Portrait of Alfred Manessier in his studio
© Donation Denise Colomb, Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, diffusion RMN-GP
Portrait of Alfred Manessier, 1949
© Jeanne Bucher Jaeger
Selected collections
Selected collections
Abbeville, Musée Boucher-de-Perthes
Agen, Musée Municipal
Alençon, Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle
Amien, Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain (FRAC) – Picardy
Amien, Musée de Picardie
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum
Baerum (Norway), Sonja Henie-Niels Onstad Foundation
Beauvais, Galerie Nationale de la Tapisserie
Besançon, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie
Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts
Céret, Musée d’Art Moderne
Chartres, International Stained-Glass Centre
Chartres, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Châteaugiron, Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain (FRAC) – Brittany
Colmar, Unterlinden Museum
Créteil, Fonds Départemental d’Art Contemporain (FDAC) – Val-de-Marne
Cuauhtémoc (Mexico), Museo Chihuahua
Dijon, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Dunkirk, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Eindhoven (Netherlands), Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum
Grenoble, Musée de Grenoble
Halmsted (Sweden), Mjellby Konstgard
Johannesburg, Johannesburg Art Gallery
Le Havre, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Le Touquet, Musée Municipal
Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts
Lisbon, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian
London, Tate Gallery
Lund (Sweden), Konsthall
Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Madrid, Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum
Malmo (Sweden), Malmo Museum
Marcq-en-Baroeul, Fondation Prouvost – Septentrion
Marseille, Musée Cantini
Metz, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire
Meudon, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire
Mexico, Museo Rufino Tamayo
Montbéliard, Musée du Château
Montreal, Musée d’Art Contemporain
Nantes, Musée des Arts
New York, NY, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
New York, NY, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Orléans, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Oslo, Museet for Samtidskunst
Ottawa, National Arts Centre
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale
Paris, Mobilier National
Paris, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris
Paris, Musée de la Poste
Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou
Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art
Puteaux, Fonds National d’Art Contemporain (FNAC)
Quimper, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Rio de Janeiro, Museu de Arte Moderna
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Rouen, Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Céramique
Saint-Dié des Vosges, Musée Pierre Noël
Saint-Étienne, Musée d’Art Moderne
São Paulo, Museu de Arte Moderna
Sintra (Portugal), Museu de Arte Moderna
South Bend, IN, University of Notre Dame
Stockholm, Moderna Museet
Tampere (Finland), Sara Hildén Art Museum
Turin, Museo Civico Arte Contemporanea
Venice, Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna
Vilafamés (Spain), Museu Popular d’Art Contemporani
Villefranche-sur-Saône, Musée Paul Dini
Vitry, MAC VAL
Washington, D.C., the Phillips Collection
Selected monumental works and public commissions
Selected monumental works and public commissions
31 stained glass windows of the Passion and the Resurrection for the Church of Saint-Sépulcre, Abbeville, France
Interior decoration for the Church of Notre-Dame de Plaimpalais, Alby-sur-Chéran, France
Wall decoration for the Lycée Climatique [a special high school for health benefits], Argelès-Gazost, France
Interior decoration for the Church of Saint-Pierre, Trinquetaille, Arles, France
Stained glass windows for the Capelleta, Céret, France
Tapestry for the administrative hall of the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, Châtenay-Malabry, France
Tapestry for the Cistercian Abbey of Morimond, Sainte-Ursule Chapel, Fresnoy-en-Bassigny, France
Tapestry for Grenoble town hall, Grenoble, France
Interior decoration for the Chapel of Sainte-Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus et de la Sainte-Face, Hem, France
Interior decoration for the Administrative Centre of the Autonomous Port of Le Havre, Le Havre, France
Stained glass windows for the Chapel of Notre-Dame de la Paix, Le Pouldu, France
Stained glass windows for the Parish Church of Saint-Michel, Les Breseux, France
Tapestry for the Church of the Dominican convent, Lille, France
Stained glass windows for the Chapel of Notre-Dame de la Bonne Nouvelle, Locronan, France
Tapestry for the Church of Saint-Tudy, Loctudy, France
Decorative element for the Institut Régional de l’Administration, Metz, France
Stained glass windows for the Chapel of the Convent of the Sisters of the Assumption, 14th arrondissement of Paris, France
Oil on wood painting for the Convent of the Carmelites – Villa de la Réunion, 16th arrondissement of Paris, France
Monumental tapestery, Maison de la Radio, 16th arrondissement of Paris, France
Mosaic for the Centre Nationale de Pastorale Liturgique, 6th arrondissement of Paris, France
Tapestry for the small oratory of the Church of Notre-Dame des Champs, 6th arrondissement of Paris, France
Stained glass windows for the Church of Saint-Bénigne, Pontarlier, Switzerland
Stained glass windows for the Saint-Dié Cathedral, Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France
Stained glass windows for the Church of the Nativité de la Vierge, Saverne, France
Tapestry for the Chapel of the Convent of the Carmelites, Toulouse, France
Stained glass windows for the Chapel of the Carmel of Verdun, Verdun, France
Stained glass windows for the Chapel of the Château de Vogüé, Vogüé, France
Stained glass windows for the Chapel of the Ermita, Llutxent, Spain
Tapestry for the French Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Selected exhibitions
Selected exhibitions
Salon des indépendants, Paris, 1933
Vingt jeunes peintres de la tradition français, Galerie Braun, Paris, 1941
Group exhibition, Galerie de France, Paris, 1943
Salon d’Automne de la Libération, Paris, 1944
Salon de Mai, Paris, 1945
Jeune peinture française, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 1945
Group exhibitions, Galerie Drouin, Paris, 1946
Group exhibitions, Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1957, 1960, 2007, 2016, 2017
Exposition Manessier – Lithographie et Peintures sur le thème de Pâques, touring exhibition: Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris; Galerie Terret, Nantes; Musée de Picardie, Amiens, 1949
Manessier – Peintures récentes, Galerie Billiet-Caputo, Paris, 1949
Solo exhibitions, Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris, 1949
La Nouvelle Peinture française, Musée de l’État, Luxembourg, 1949
Maîtres de l’art graphique français d’aujourd’hui, Kunstverein, Konstanz, 1949
Art sacré – Œuvres françaises des XIXème et XXème siècles, Musée National d’Art, Paris, 1950
Alfred Manessier, Galerie Apollo, Brussels, 1951–1952
Pariser Malerei der Gegenwart / Peintres parisiens de la deuxième génération, Kunsthalle, Basel, 1951
Religious French Art, Stedelijk Museum, Eindhoven (Netherlands), 1951
Solo exhibitions, Galerie de France, Paris, 1952, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1975 1978, 1983, 1993
Tendances actuelles de l’École de Paris, Kunsthalle, Bern, 1952
2nd São Paulo Biennale, São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo, 1953
Younger European Painters, a selection, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1953
Solo exhibition, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1953
Alfred Manessier, Galleria Mario Lattes, Turin, 1953
Alfred Manessier, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 1955
Alfred Manessier, Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (Netherlands), 1955
Alfred Manessier, cinquante peintures, Musée Municipal, Tourcoing, 1955
Manessier, touring exhibition: Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover; Museum Folkwang, Essen; Gemeentemuseum, The Hague; Kunsthaus, Zurich, 1958–1959
Cantiques spirituels de Saint Jean de la Croix, Galerie de France, Paris, 1959
Nieuwe religieuze Kunst, Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft (Netherlands), 1959
Venice Biennale, Venice, 1958, 1962
Group exhibition, Galerie de France, Paris, 1960
Peinture française, touring exhibition: Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montreal; Quebec City, 1960
Paintings by Alfred Manessier, touring exhibition in the United States: the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; Art Gallery, University of Notre-Dame, South Bend (Indiana), 1964
Alfred Manessier, Kunstnermes Hus, Oslo, 1965
Alfred Manessier, Konsthall, Lund (Sweden), 1965
Alfred Manessier, Musée Fabre, Montpellier, 1967
Alfred Manessier, Kunsthaus, Zurich, 1968
Alfred Manessier – œuvres de 1935 à 1968, touring exhibition: Musée des Beaux-Arts, Metz (France); Musée d’Histoire et d’Art, Luxembourg; Städtisches Museum, Trier (Germany), 1969
Art et Matière, French Pavilion, Montreal, 1969
Selection from the Solomon R. Guggenheim, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, 1969
Alfred Manessier, Kunsthalle, Bremen, 1970
Alfred Manessier – œuvres de 1935 à 1968, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, 1970
Alfred Manessier, Bellelay Abbey, Bellelay, 1970
Alfred Manessier, Paintings, Tapestries, Stained-glassed designs, Drawings and Prints, touring exhibition in the United States: Art Gallery, University of Notre-Dame, South Bend, (Indiana); the Arts Club, Chicago, 1971
Les Cantiques spirituels de saint Jean de la Croix, Chapel of the Château, Maintenon, 1971
Manessier, suite de douze tapisseries sur le thème des Cantiques spirituels de saint Jean de la Croix tissées par l’Atelier Plasse Le Caisne, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, 1971–1973
Manessier, paintings and tapestries, touring exhibition in Portugal: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; Musée Soares dos Reis, Porto, 1973
Tapisseries sur le thème des cantiques spirituels de Saint Jean de la Croix tissés par les ateliers Plasse Le Caisme, Musée Fabre, Montpellier, 1974
Manessier, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Neuchâtel, 1974
Manessier, touring exhibition in Austria: Museum des 20 Jahrhunderts, Vienna; Kârntner Landesgalerie, Klagenfurt; Wolfgang-Gurlitt Museum, Linz, 1974
Panorama. Exposition Alfred Manessier, Dynamic Museum, Dakar, 1976
Alfred Manessier, retrospective, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi (Belgium), 1979
Manessier, touring exhibition in Norway: Sonja Henie-Niels Onstad Foundation, Oslo-Hovikodden; Kunstgalleri, Trondheim; Kunstforening, Bergen, 1979
Alfred Manessier, toiles, tapisseries, lithographies, Institut Français, Athens, 1979
Alfred Manessier, Das graphische Werk 1949-1978, Traklhaus, Salzburg, 1979
Manessier, tapisseries, peintures, estampes, Salle des Écuries de Saint-Hugues, Cluny, 1979
Œuvre gravé de Manessier 1949-1978, touring exhibition: Marburger Kunstverein, Marburg (Germany); Verein Stiftsmuseum, Millstatt (Austria); Académie Catholique de l’Episcopat, Fribourg (Switzerland), 1980
First Salon du vitrail, Grenier de Loëns, International Stained-Glass Centre, Chartres, 1980
Retrospective, Musée de la Poste, Paris, 1981
Alfred Manessier, Mjällby Konstgard, Halmstad (Sweden), 1984
Manessier et l’Union Havraise des Arts Plastiques, Musée des Beaux-Arts André Malraux, Le Havre, 1984
Les années 50 – l’art abstrait, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Abbaye Saint-André, Meymac, 1985
Manessier, Peintures et Lavis 1948-1985, Centre Noroît, Arras, 1986
Douze tapisseries de Manessier, les Cantiques spirituels de saint Jean de la Croix par l’Atelier Plasse Le Caisne, Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes, 1986
Salon des peintres du Mantois – Hommage à Alfred Manessier, town hall, Mantes-la-Jolie, 1987
Un siècle de vitrail en Picardie, Chapel of the Visitandines, Amiens, 1987
Manessier – La Passion 1948-1988, touring exhibition: ELAC, Lyon; Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie, Besançon; Festival d’Echternach, Château de Vianden (Luxembourg); Mjällby Konstgård, Halmstad (Sweden); Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin, 1988
Maquettes des vitraux de la cathédrale et œuvres récentes, Musée Municipal, Saint-Dié, 1988
Art et philatélie, touring exhibition: Musée Municipal, Saint-Maur-des-Fossées, France; Villa Médicis, Rome, Italy, 1988
Manessier, le Regard, la Couleur, la Pierre, 40 ans de lithographie, touring exhibition: Casa França-Brasil, Rio de Janeiro; Musée Provincial des Beaux-Arts, Santa-Fe (New Mexico); Ralli Museum, Punta del Esté (Uruguay); Exhibition Centre of the Palacio Municipal, Montevideo; Institut Culturel Français, Santiago (Chili); Maison de France, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic); Gallery of the Town Hall, Prague; Modern Art Museum, Ankara; School of Architecture, Thessalonique (Greece); National Gallery, Athens; Auberge de France, Rhodes; Cultural Centre, Alexandria; Franco-Japanese Institute, Tokyo; Chosun Ilbo Gallery, Seoul; National Museum, Port-au-Prince (Haiti), 1989–1991
Manessier – œuvres 1927-989, Musée Boucher de Perthes, Abbeville, 1990
Alfred Manessier – Lithographies sur le thème de Pâques (1949, 1978), Tour of the archives of the Abbey, Ambronay, 1992
Rétrospective Alfred Manessier, touring exhibition: Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Villa Médicis, Rome; Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 1992
Alfred Manessier – Vitraux – 1948-1993, touring exhibition: Grenier de Loëns, International Stained-Glass Centre, Chartres (France); Swiss Glass Museum, Romont (Switzerland), 1992
L’Art sacré en France au XXème siècle – Du désir de spiritualité dans l’Art Contemporain, Centre Culturel, Boulogne-Billancourt, 1993
Manessier – œuvres tissé : tapisseries, vêtements liturgiques, touring exhibition: Payerne (Switzerland); Musée Départemental de la Tapisserie, Aubusson (France); Musée des Beaux-Arts, Arras (France), 1993
Manessier – œuvres tissé : tapisseries, vêtements liturgiques, Musée d’Angers, Abbaye du Ronceray, Angers, 1994
Quinze lithographies sur le thème de Pâques, Espace Georges Bernanos, Paris, 1996
Maquettes des vitraux de l’église du Saint-Sépulcre d’Abbeville, Espace Georges Bernanos, Paris, 1997
Retrospective, Musée de Cambrai, Cambrai (France) 1998
Tapisserie et Maquettes de Vitraux, Musée de Borda, Dax (France) 1998
Passions, Moissons et Alléluias, Musée de Quesnel-Morinière, Coutances (France), 1999
Alfred Manessier – Combats pour l’Espoir, Centre d’Art et de Culture, Meudon, 2000–2001
Les Cantiques Spirituels de Saint-Jean-de-la-Croix, La Chaise-Dieu, 2001
Les Cantiques Spirituels de Saint-Jean-de-la-Croix, Beauvais Cathedral, Beauvais, 2002
Manessier – Du trait à la couleur – Un choix d’œuvres de 1935 à 1993, Palais du Roi de Rome, Rambouillet, 2002
Livres illustrés par Manessier, Bibliothèque Robert Maller, Abbeville, 2003
Paysages de la Baie de Somme et de Picardie, solo exhibition, Musée d’Amiens, Amiens, 2004
Alfred Manessier. Dations et dons aux collections nationales, Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2006
Alfred Manessier en Provence, Musée Cantini, Marseille, 2008
Alfred Manessier, Opération Hortillonnages, Musée de Picardie, Amiens, 2012
Solo exhibition, Musée d’Art Religieux de Fourvière, Lyon, 2015
Solo exhibition, Prieuré d’Airaines, Airaines, 2017
Selected bibliography
Selected bibliography
Jean Cayrol, Manessier, Paris, Georges Fall, Le Musée de Poche collection, 1955
Josef-Paul Hodin, Manessier, Neuchâtel, Ides et Calendes, 1972.
François Barré, Claire Stoullig, Ole Henrick Moe, Louis Marin, Pierre Encrevé, Daniel Abadie (texts), Manessier, Paris, Centre National des Arts Plastiques; Geneva, Albert Skira, 1992
Gérard Pfulg, Gottfried Sprondel, Armelle Langlois (texts), Pierre Encrevé and Alfred Manessier (a conversation), Alfred Manessier, les vitraux (die Glasmalereien), Romont, Swiss Glass Museum; Chartres, International Stained-Glass Centre; Bern, Benteli Verlag, 1993
Jean Leymarie (preface), Martine Mathias and Sylvie Ollivier (texts); Jean- Baptiste Manessier (comments), Manessier – Œuvre tissé, Paris, managing committee of the touring exhibition Manessier – œuvre tissé, 1993
Lydia Harambourg, L’École de Paris, 1945-1965. Dictionnaire des peintres, Neuchâtel, Ides et Calendes, 1993
Bernard Ceysson, Jean-Marie Lhôte (texts), Manessier – Lumières du Nord, Tournai, La Renaissance du Livre, 2000
Djilali Kadid (dialogue), Christine Manessier (postscript), Manessier en Algérie, Alger/Paris, Marsa, 2001
Sabine de Lavergne, Alfred Manessier, une aventure avec Dieu : essai sur les messages spirituels du peintre, Laval, Siloë, 2003
Jean-François Cocquet, Prisca Hazebrouck (texts), Manessier au Saint-Sépulcre d’Abbeville, Paris, Ereme, 2003
Jean-Pierre Bourdais, Alfred Manessier, mon ami, Laval, Siloë, 2004
Hélène Claveyrolas, Les Vitraux d’Alfred Manessier dans les édifices historiques, Paris, Complicités, 2006
Jean-Pierre Changeux (preface), Christian Briend, Georges Rodesch (texts), Manessier dans les Musées de France, Saint-Rémy-en-l’Eau, Monelle Hayot, 2006