nº90 / ANNA PETER BRETON / PARIS

Zoltan Alexander
May 11
4 min read

Updated: May 15

Paris-based artist Anna Peter Breton opens her first solo exhibition in Venice, during the 61st Venice Biennale, at La Scuola Grande dei Carmini. “The Seven Celestial Spheres”, curated by Roberta Semeraro, marks a new chapter in the artist’s life.

Review by Zoltan Alexander

COVER / THE INSTIGATOR Anna Peter Breton The Seven Celestial Spheres La Scuola Grande dei Carmini / Cover design Zoltan Alexander ZOLTAN+MEDIA

THE

LIGHT

MAKER º

OF VENICE Anna Peter Breton opens The Seven Celestial Spheres at the

magical La Scuola Grande dei Carmini, in Venice

THE INSTIGATOR Anna Peter Breton The Seven Celestial Spheres La Scuola Grande dei Carmini — *"The Seven Celestial Spheres”* by Anna Peter Breton / Photo © Courtesy of Adriano Mura

At dawn, we were wandering through the narrow pedestrian alleys, the calli of Dorsoduro, in Venice, and stopped at La Scuola Grande dei Carmini. The confraternity, founded in 1594, is located at the corner of Campo del Carmini and the Campo Santa Margherita. At this hour, there was nobody on the streets, and the loud crowd of the Venice Biennale was yet far away. The confraternity still retains some of the original decorations, the monumental baroque façade, the rich stucco ceilings, the Archive Room, and the large marble sculptures in the shadow of Tiepolo’s painting, in a typical Venetian school tradition, most of which were stripped away during the Napoleonic edicts.

For a moment, it was the angels’ silence.

THE INSTIGATOR Anna Peter Breton the studio Paris — The Artist Studio / Photo © Courtesy of Zoltan Alexander

THE INSTIGATOR Anna Peter Breton The Seven Celestial Spheres — In the Artist Studio during the preparation of *"The Seven Celestial Spheres”* by Anna Peter Breton / Photo © Courtesy of Zoltan Alexander

Back to Paris, a kind invitation awaited us from Anna Peter Breton to visit her artist studio in the heart of Saint-Germain, just a few days before her next exhibition opening at Galerie Sarto. The daylight cut through the large rooms of her atelier, filled with the irresistible smell of terpentine, leading us to a magnificent back garden. We sat down for tea and had a glimpse of her exhibition in Venice.

Currently, at La Scuola Grande dei Carmini, there are 14 large-scale oil paintings all together, in the exact shape and proportions of the windows, covering the lights in the church, and casting a temporary shadow over the masterpieces. Through her oil paintings, she rebuilt the space with her own light.

Anna invites us to a slower living, maybe even closing our eyes for a moment, for a deeper understanding. In semi-obscurity, silence fills once again the space for an inner journey.

THE INSTIGATOR Anna Peter Breton portrait

Portrait of Anna Peter Breton / Photo (right) © Courtesy of Raphaëlle Duroselle / Photo (left) Zoltan Alexander

Who is Anna Peter Breton?

With a mixed Hungarian-Kyrgyz background, she installs in Paris in 2009. She spends over seven years with LVMH with her company in fashion & luxury, where her perfectionism is deeply rooted, juxtaposing with design and interior aesthetics. With her film producer husband, she travels around the world and throws the seeds of memories at various locations to provide a niche for her family. She establishes a culture hub in Budapest, a hidden location in Corsica, and a palazzo in Venice, overlooking the Isola di San Michele.

These places inspire her to buy her first Back Book for travel notes and sketches, where, under the shadows of the intruding sunlight, she puts, for the first time, her watercolours on paper.

THE INSTIGATOR Anna Peter Breton Voyage Amoureux en Italie — Books on Japan, Italy, Corsica *- "Voyage Amoureux"* by Anna Peter Breton / Photo © Courtesy of Zoltan Alexander

After hundreds of sketches and intimate moments, she decides to bring her stories to light with her husband’s, Pascal’s, Proustian words, and the books on Corsica, Japan, and Italy were born. Throughout the beloved Voyage Amoureux, her memories are immortalised.

The artist tells us all during her interview.

INTERVIEWVIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVa2NKmg4p8

Interview by THE INSTIGATOR / ARTIST STUDIO / ANNA PETER BRETON in her Parisian studio

/ Directed by Zoltan Alexander

/ Produced by ZOLTAN+MEDIA Paris

/ Produced by THE INSTIGATOR Paris

THE INSTIGATOR Anna Peter Breton The Seven Celestial Spheres paints

"The Seven Celestial Spheres” by Anna Peter Breton / Photos © Courtesy of Zoltan Alexander

During the preparation of "The Seven Celestial Spheres” by Anna Peter Breton

/ Photo © Courtesy of Zoltan Alexander

Based on her multicultural background and extensive travels, the sketches grew up and turned into large-scale colour visions and gradient lights, employing a watercolour-like technique, reconstructed with oil and acrylic paints. Each piece creates a space for quiet introspection, offering deep meditation and inviting a renewed vision for transient beauty. The core structure of her practice is defined by the colour palette she employs and the blurred, organic forms of landscapes.

At the 61^st Biennale di Venezia Arte, under the roof of La Scuola Grande dei Carmini, her work comes alive again by blocking the lights in the confraternity and replacing them with her own.