Pierre Molinier

Pierre Molinier (Agen, 1900 - Bordeaux, 1976) was a French painter, photographer and poet whose erotic and provocative work places him at the margins of Surrealism. Born into a family of artisans, he learned painting from his father, a house painter, and in 1919 settled in Bordeaux, where he worked independently painting buildings until 1960.

Until the late 1940s his painting was figurative, with landscapes, portraits and still lifes in an impressionist and expressionist vein. In 1951 he presented a work halfway between figuration and abstraction that scandalised Bordeaux's bourgeoisie. That same year he sent paintings and poems to André Breton, who responded enthusiastically and proposed an exhibition in Paris. Around 1955 he was brought into the Surrealist group.

From the mid-1960s he devoted himself mainly to photography. In his photomontages, which combined partial shots of his own body, he appeared as a transvestite, exploring androgyny. This practice makes him one of the precursors of body art. His legacy is significant, though he is less well known today than other photographers of his era.