Lucien Fontanarosa first learned the book and engraving at the École Estienne, then entered the Beaux-Arts: here the training of a craftsman comes before that of the painter. The most looked-at thing he made hangs in no museum but passed from hand to hand, for he designed for the Banque de France two banknotes that millions of people handled without knowing his name. His wife, the painter Annette Faive, lies with him under the same single word of trade.
The story
Born in Paris on 19 December 1912 to Italian parents, Lucien Fontanarosa went through the École Estienne — the school of the book and of engraving — before the Beaux-Arts: a craftsman's route before a painter's.
The Grand Prix d'Afrique du Nord took him to Morocco in 1935, and the following year he won the first Prix de Rome. He exhibited, illustrated, decorated, and lived by his painting in a century that no longer allowed everyone to.
His most looked-at work hangs in no museum but passed through wallets: he designed four banknotes for the Banque de France — Berlioz, Pascal, Quentin de La Tour and Delacroix — handled by millions of French people who never knew his name. The hundred-franc Delacroix went into circulation only four years after his death.
He shared his life and his trade with the painter Annette Faive, whom he had married in Rome in 1939.
He died on 27 April 1975 and lies in Division 85, avenue Transversale n°2, thirteenth row, in what was once the cemetery's Muslim enclosure. The stone names them both in two words: “Artistes Peintres”, painters.
The grave
A stone for a couple of painters, with dates in short form: “Lucien FONTANAROSA 19.12.1912-27.04.1975 / Annette FAIVE 22.02.1911-12.11.1988 / Painters”. She signed her canvases Annette Faive-Fontanarosa: the carved spelling is the right one. The grave lies in the former Muslim enclosure of Division 85, a plot once reserved and today like any other.
On site, do not miss
Look for the single mention of a trade, valid for both: “Artistes Peintres” — painters — and the dates carved to the day, which is rare here.
Visitors' questions
Where is Lucien Fontanarosa's grave?
In Division 85, Avenue Transversale No. 2, thirteenth row, in the cemetery's former Muslim enclosure. The Division is that of Marcel Proust and the Countess of Castiglione, one of the most visited at Père-Lachaise.
Marcel ProustDid Fontanarosa design banknotes?
Yes, two: the 50-franc Quentin de La Tour and the 100-franc Eugène Delacroix, for the Banque de France. It is the most widely seen work of a painter whose name almost nobody knew — the painter in the Louvre served as the subject, he as the draughtsman.
Eugène DelacroixWho was Annette Faive?
His wife, a painter too, who died in 1988. The stone names them together: “Artistes Peintres” — painters. She exhibited and signed under the name Annette Faive-Fontanarosa.
Enrique Gómez CarrilloWhat was the Muslim enclosure in Division 85?
A plot of the cemetery once reserved for Muslim burials, now absorbed into Division 85 like any other. It also holds the grave of the Iranian writer Sadegh Hedayat, a few rows further along.
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