The art historian is accustomed to dealing with artists of the past from archives and period testimonies. He cannot, by definition, question them on their approach, whereas the examination of works and documents raises a thousand enigmas that often remain unanswered. To exchange with a contemporary artist offers an infinitely more lively approach. This shows the pleasure I felt in shooting this series of interviews with Jean-Pierre Sergent, whom I have known for some fifteen years and whose work I follow attentively.
In these five dialogues, we cover a wide range of subjects, from the aesthetic influences that came into play in the young painter's formation to the Canadian and especially New York experiences that led him to maturity. We then venture into the heart of his creative process, where two themes coexist that we rarely have the opportunity to associate, so opposed do they seem to be in our Western world, penetrated by Judeo-Christianity, the uncompromising representation of the desiring body and spirituality. The last two interviews are devoted to the place of the artist in today's society and to Jean-Pierre Sergent's definition of Beauty.
In this exercise, the historian questions, plays perhaps the role of giving birth, but he must especially know to efface himself the most possible, because only counts the word of the artist.
Thierry Savatier, September 13, 2019.

Filmed interview between Jean-Pierre Sergent and art historian Thierry Savatier (world-famous specialist of Gustave Courbet).
Photos by Christine Chatelet.