Portraits of Jeannine

Synopsis

Jeannine Guillou was the first companion of the French painter Nicolas de Staël, having met him in Marrakesh in 1937. “Portraits of Jeannine” portrays the life and work of a passionate, independent woman and a painter in her own right. 

The film draws from Jeannine’s own writings and the accounts of her daughter Anne de Staël to present an intimate portrait of a forgotten artist. It pays homage to an unjustly overlooked body of work that has yet to be discovered.

Director's statment of intent

The name Jeannine Guillou is forgotten to us now. Nicolas de Staël’s radiant companion, born in 1909 in Concarneau and a painter in her own right, has fallen into oblivion. 

Jeannine and Nicolas had one surviving child, the wonderful Anne de Staël. Of Jeannine, only a few paintings remain, garnered from Anne’s house or the storerooms of a few museums. 

Yet Jeannine Guillou was a true artist, a free-spirited, luminous being who captivated the young Nicolas de Staël and helped him find his way.

 I followed in the artist’s footsteps; I sought out Anne’s accounts of her mother, dancing one night in a Moroccan square; I went for a walk in Concarneau to revisit her childhood home, with the top floor that faces the sea. 

This film is a quest for discovery, embodied by my sister, the dancer Marianne, who plays Jeannine as well as my alter-ego. To quote Francis Bacon, “When you paint a portrait, aren’t you painting yourself?”

Idea for the project

The idea for the film came about in September 2020, in the concert hall of Le Mans at the MIFAC film festival for contemporary artists. We had come as a team to show support for our selected films.

 As we were leaving the screening, Catherine Aventurier, the director of one of our Tandem films and director of the documentary collection Duos d’artistes (Artistic Duos) on France 5, said to our little group: “I’m looking for ideas for new duos”. Without missing a beat, Amaury Mulliez replied: “Why not Nicolas de Staël and his first wife, Jeannine Guillou?” 

Amaury is a great fan of de Staël and had learned about this extraordinary love story between two painters from his mentor, Antoine Tudal, aka Antek, his screenwriting teacher, director and photographer. Jeannine Guillou was Tudal’s mother and Nicolas de Staël was his stepfather. 

Amaury also knew Anne de Staël, the painters’ daughter, and Viviane Montagnon, Tudal’s widow. So we had direct access to the source! 

The Duo project fell through, but Jeannine could no longer be left to her sad fate, forgotten by the history of art. 

The entire team of AM Art Films fell in love with this unconventional project. Catherine Aventurier, Tamsin Genillier and I immersed ourselves in scientific research. We would like to express our respect and gratitude to Anne de Staël, daughter of Jeannine and half-sister of Antoine, for her dedication and generosity. Anne invited us into her home several times and entrusted us with valuable documents, including notebooks, photos, and original drawings by Jeannine herself. 

Without Anne’s support, Portraits of Jeannine would not have been possible, and we treasure the memory of those vivid encounters. 

Running like a golden thread through the film – in which Jeannine is embodied by the director’s sister, the dancer Marianne Aventurier – is the yellow shawl from Nicolas de Staël’s painting, Portraits de Jeannine (1941-42). We hope that this version of Portraits of Jeannine will be discovered and loved by many