free-spirited artist and collector

ARTE – SUNDAY AUGUST 28 AT 5.45 P.M. – DOCUMENTARY

There is the hero, entered into the national novel, whose ashes were transferred to the Pantheon in 1964. Jean Moulin (1899-1943), mythical figure of the great resistance fighter, senior official with left-wing convictions, creator of the Secret Army in 1942 and federator of the movements of the French Resistance which, under the blows of its Nazi torturers and a hysterical Klaus Barbie will not speak, will not reveal anything, until losing his life.

But this fascinating documentary by Daniel Ablin, punctuated by the enveloping voice of Eric Caravaca, rich in family archives (including a 1925 film) and enlightening television extracts (In the footsteps of Jean Moulin, by Igor Barrère, in 1958, for example), elegantly paints the intimate portrait of a young man living by and for art, alongside a dazzling career in the senior civil service.

Jean Moulin, alias Romanin, was therefore a renowned caricaturist, gifted wood engraver, gallerist with sure taste, collector with a free spirit. Throughout his short existence, the great servant of the Republic will advance alongside the creator. Moulin and Romanin, reason and passion.

“From school, Jean drew a lot, caricaturing his teachers. He was very mischievous”, recalls Laure, her older sister. A sense of detail, an increasingly assertive style, Jean Moulin draws children playing at war, the hideouts in the rear, the bourgeois.

Woodcut

In a country where each newspaper has its own stable of cartoonists and where press cartoons are at their peak, it takes talent to find a place. In 1915, in the national satirical weekly The Bayonet, Moulin is published for the first time. His drawing earns him 10 francs, almost twice as much as a worker’s daily wage.

As a law student, he paid for his studies by selling drawings to a press that wanted more. Entering the senior civil service at the age of 22 (chief of staff to the prefect of Savoy), he never leaves his sketchbook, makes fun of the socialites, of which he is a part.

From the age of 24, he embarked on a collection of paintings, saving to be able to afford works of modern art whose power he discovered: Soutine, Goerg, Friesz, Kisling. This passion will not leave him. And will prove to be very useful in 1942 and 1943, when Jean Moulin, officially exercising the profession of art dealer in Nice, will multiply the trips from one side to the other of the demarcation line…

Learn, understand, discover. In the 1930s, the senior civil servant visited exhibitions and galleries, befriended many artists, including Max Jacob. And enriches its collection: Dufy, Tal Coat, De Chirico…

Little by little, he abandons caricature, delivers a darker work with wood engraving. The war breaks out. After the defeat, Moulin, prefect in Chartres, was automatically retired by Vichy. At 41, his career came to a halt. Another adventure begins.

On February 9, 1943, the brand new president of the National Council of the Resistance, who multiplied delicate missions in occupied France, offered himself the luxury of a private viewing in his Romanin gallery in Nice, on the occasion of a exhibition entitled “The Modern Masters”. In June, Moulin, alias Rex, Régis or Max, will be arrested in Caluire (Rhône) by the Gestapo.

Romanin, the other Jean Moulin, by Daniel Ablin (Fr., 2,022, 52 mins).

Alain Constant