Gnosis γνῶσις, (knowledge). According to this philosophical approach, the salvation of the soul is only possible through the knowledge of divinity, and thereby, through the knowledge of oneself. Montlaur certainly had in mind Erik Satie’s “Gnossiennes” that he sometimes listened to while painting. He greatly appreciated the work of Satie, Apollinaire’s friend. “Gnosis” - the painting - was started in 1960 and completed in 1974. We can easily recognize the very dynamic gesture of Montlaur’s 1960s period, and his 1970s “finish” brings a chromatic richness that we find in all of his later paintings. For Montlaur, ironically, knowledge of his deepest self was only made possible by the wound he suffered in his skull; gnosis had thus become an autopsy. We can see the white outline of his head and neck and the shrapnel fragment, square and black, which entered Montlaur’s right cheek on the morning of November 1, 1944, when he landed with the Commandos in Flushing, Holland. He suffered from that wound his entire life due to fragments of metal having penetrated his sinuses and his eyes.

Listen to the “ Gnossiennes ”