Les ma�tres d'art

The Master Artist

Definition by the minister of culture and communication

A master artist is a professional par excellence that masters exceptional techniques and know-how. He is recognised by his peers for his experience, his expertise and his educational competences. He must be capable of passing on his knowledge and his tricks-of-the-trade to a student so as to perpetuate them.

The creation of the official title of master artist was inspired by the 'Living national treasures' of Japan; by their example, the master artists transmit their know-how of excellence. They are concerned with the evolution of their trades, and show innovation. Currently, France counts 74 master artists named by the minister of culture and communication.

An exceptional know-how

Catherine Tasca Minister of culture and communication

The purpose of nominating Masters of Art is to ensure the conservation, valuation and transmission of the know-how of excellence that are essential to preserve the heritage as well as to ensure contemporary creation.

Indeed, the title of Master of Art is a testimony to an exceptional mastery of technique and to the transmission of this knowledge to others.

Exceptional talents

Jean-Jacques Aillagon Minister of culture and communication

Their unique talents combine tradition and creation, love for matter and the virtuosity of the gesture, the intelligence of the eye and the hand.

The intelligence of the hand

Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres Minister of culture and communication

We have come a long way since 1994, when the first Masters of Art were nominated by the Minister of Culture, along the same principles as the National Living Treasures of Japan! Indeed, our Masters of Art are our National Living Treasures, whose value and rarity rests in their own hands, those hands which hold a know-how of excellence, an exceptional skill and, using the appealing term used by Liliane Bettencourt, who is striving for the advancement of the Masters of Art, an extraordinary "intelligence". In the same way as the National Treasures of Japan, our Masters of Art have been invested with a mission: to ensure that this invaluable legacy is passed on, that their techniques are renewed and forever reinvented.

I am very watchful to preserving these exceptional crafts, which carry aloft, throughout the world, the beauty, the quality and the excellence which have established, and continue to establish, the prestige of French art and "savoir-vivre". I believe in their priceless and fundamental value, because I believe deeply in the love of work well done, in patience, in what is exceptional and unique, within a century where everything tends toward uniformity and zapping, in a world which favors that which is disposable and industrially produced. In this sense, you have an enormous responsibility, that of passing on a taste for that which is rare and for the effort required to obtain it, the love of the movement of the hand and the great amount of time needed for true creation. As Georges Duby said, what is art but a "[...] skill in implementing practices through which man ensures his grip on the world"? And what is a master, but he who opens our eyes on this world and teaches this skill?

Indeed, art crafts are one of our greatest riches, and it is our responsibility to pass them on, to preserve them, and to put the spotlight on these masters who are true creators and whose works shine in France and abroad. We must support all the professionals who accept challenges in their companies, who take an interest in research, who experiment with new materials or new technologies in order to find innovative applications.

This is why I am very pleased that four shop foremen from luxury companies, which are members of the Comité Colbert, an association whose 70 members are prestigious French companies, have been designated. I wish to warmly hail the commitment of those who forge the reputation of these top luxury houses.

The luxury companies are true ambassadors for all the masters of art that constitute a prestigious "association", but which must move out of the shadows. These companies are also in the heart of the city, and are concerned with training young talents in order to perpetrate their techniques, and to provide a living for their exceptional workshops.

I call upon you, also, to pursue your quest for beauty, knowing that it will no be acquired for ever, but that it is a wager on the future, especially for your crafts.

To all, I wish to reaffirm our gratitude and our admiration, and to reassert that France can well be proud of your talents.

Art crafts, exceptional crafts

Etienne Vatelot Honorary President of the Art Crafts Council

Art crafts are one of the laboratories of the future. Some thirty thousand French craftsmen in their workshops strive hard to restore, reproduce, repair and create art objects.

The restoration of the paintings of the Louvre or of the dome of the Invalids, of the statues of the Tuileries Gardens or of the embroideries of high fashion collections, and of the stained glass of the Chartres cathedral.... the work of the Masters of Art is present everywhere in our daily lives.

The works of the Masters of Art are sometimes anonymous; they are often in the shadow of the artist, although nothing that seduces our look would be possible without them. The title of Master of Art was created in order to highlight the talent of the art craftsmen; but also to recall that the elements and signs of our culture, its museums, monuments, music, books, theater, are also the results of exceptional skills. Each work, whether it is linked to the restoration of our heritage or to contemporary creation, is often unique; it summons up an incomparable technical skill combined with a constant capacity for invention. The Masters of Art, like the National Living Treasures of Japan, are the carriers of a living and harmonious culture, which is sometimes referred to as the intangible heritage, which they strive to bring to perfection and to transmit, ceaselessly enriching it.

What could be more natural than to observe so many young people who are attracted by this original and balanced way of living : carrying out a fascinating trade in a convivial environment, with an alert mind and confronted with the demands of matter and art?

Despite the fragility of these crafts and how hard times are, I am convinced that the Masters of Art are showing the path to the future.

Lison de Caunes Master Artist President of the association of Master Artists and their students

To be named Master Artist is a pride. The title of Master Artist is the highest distinction to which an artisan of art can claim and recognition towards those who have taught us the quality and the rigor that lead to it. And above all a duty: to pass on our knowledge and our know-how. The time of workshop secrets is no longer: our trades have become too rare. We must create a future for them. And emulation is the source of vitality.

Our trades require us to understand the material, to tame the tools and the techniques (of yesterday and today); to acquire the ease of hand and sure gestures; to learn the rules of the profession and its professional ethics.

Our trades taught us concentration, the ability to listen, patience, respect of the object, concern for details, the search for perfection, the need to deepen our knowledge, more and always.

It is all that that we must pass on, like it was passed on to us.

Only one thing must be innate: the passion for the material, which expresses itself in the contact with the hand, which then translates into great manual skill so personal that it will be recognisable in a glance by the connoisseurs.

It is what we ask of our students. In order to share this passion with them, open its cultural universe to them, and give them all that it has brought to us. So that they can go further than us. In every period, great artisans created. Creation is life. We want a future for our students. Not a museum. A future in which they can live, and be proud.