Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Ben, J'aime la vérité (I Like the Truth), 1996, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 162 cm With the sudden passing of Benjamin Vautier , better known by his alias Ben, on June 5, 2024, we take a look back on the life of one of France’s most popular and impertinent artists, heir to Marcel Duchamp and the European Dadaists, who achieved a form of universality through his painted slogans in distinctive cursive script that appeared on everything from pencil cases to stamps and notebooks. Having written “Living is loving”, he was unwilling and unable to live without Annie Vautier, his wife and an unwavering supporter of his work throughout their decades together. After she died of a stroke, Ben took his own life by firearm just hours later in their home in the hills above Nice, at the age of 88.
As geniuses are never alone, Annie and Ben Vautier, married for six decades, will be remembered as an emblematic couple of 20 th -century art, inextricably linked with the city of Nice. A born agitator, Ben embodied the role of the disruptive artist that society can’t do without. He observed, analyzed and proposed his point of view through hand-painted texts that have become so familiar yet lost none of their relevance, soliciting a response, deconstructing our reality and challenging our habits.
His epigrams were a kind of brushstroke, getting straight to the point, yet deeply profound. He placed a throne-like chair on a pedestal beari.
