Venise, 1960

Robert Coutelas  

March 17, 1930: Born in Paris. "I was born at 6:15 a.m., which was too early, so I was tired from the moment I was born," he said.
1941-44: The family moved to a German military base near the Czech border in Germany. Coutras did not know German and chose to work in a factory rather than go to school.
1945: Returned to France. He worked in a spinning mill in Thiers, Auvergne. He began making his own cast metal objects and wood sculptures.
Around 1948-49: Moved to Clermont-Ferrand. He worked in a factory from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. and attended a vocational school specializing in industrial design in the afternoon. He participated in his first group exhibition with sculptures and was featured in the local newspaper.
1950-53: After completing an apprenticeship as a stonemason in Blois, he worked on the restoration of Bourges Cathedral. He then moved to Rouen, Blois and Brittany.
1953: Moves to Lyon where his parents live. He enrolls at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon, but abandons his studies midway through his second year.
1959: Won the Orson Fritz Award for Outstanding Achievement. Signed a contract with the Galerie Romanée in Paris. Solo exhibitions in Paris and Rome. Couture, who painted street scenes, was described as a "modern Utrillo."
1961: He terminated his contract with the Galerie Romanée. For the next seven years, they lived in extreme poverty.
1967: Moved to 226 rue Vaugirard in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, commonly known as "l'Auberge du Soleil." This would be your home for life. It was during this time that he began painting on cardboard and boards he found and began creating his Cult works.
1968: Signed a contract with the Galerie Vercel in Paris. He began a life of painting for galleries during the day and creating iconic works at night.
1970: Solo exhibitions at the Galeries Vercels in Paris and New York.
1972: Exhausted by the few solo exhibitions per year and the constant work he does day and night, he ends his contract with the Galerie de Versailles.
1973: Cult entered and won a competition organized by Grimaud, a company that produced playing cards. However, as they refused to involve the cult, the film was never released.
1975: Cult's compositions are exhibited for the first time in a four-person exhibition at the Galerie Orton in Paris. André Malraux visits the gallery and becomes interested in cults.
1976: Inspired by the music of the Hungarian folk group KOLINDA, he created record covers and concert posters for them.
1977: Meets Mariko Kishi. He begins to paint gouaches on the back of a large number of posters brought to him by a friend who works in a printing house (he will later call this series "My Ancestors").
1978: Extended stay in a friend's villa in Château-Chalon in the Jura, where he worked in the forge, making sculptures in terracotta and stone.
1982: Solo exhibition at the Ueda Gallery, Tokyo. The exhibition features compositions in gouache and à la carte.
1985: Died in Paris. Buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
1986: Retrospective at the Galerie Essay, Paris.