Par Maxime Cartier
Published on
Maxime Verdier was born in Dieppe (Seine Maritime). Cet artiste and also teacher to Fine Arts in Paris is the origin of theattach of Roland Garros tennis tournament for 2023. This was also unveiled to the public on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
The artist from Dieppe agreed to answer questions from Dieppe information.
Actu : Tell us a bit about yourself.
Maxim Values: I am 31 years old, I was born in Dieppe and I grew up in Belmesnil before going to study at the Beaux-Arts in Rouen. After obtaining a master’s degree, I joined the Beaux-Arts de Paris. I worked as a supervisor at the Georges-Pompidou museum.
Today, I am a professor at the new Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, where I offer courses to amateurs and I am also a multidisciplinary artist. I mainly do drawings and sculptures, but also a little painting. I also have a gallery.
What relationship do you have with tennis?
MV : I don’t practice this sport at all! My first connections to tennis came from an old college friend who was a fan and often told me about Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
I ended up watching a game and found it quite enjoyable. When I have some time, I watch a match. I don’t have a passion for tennis, but I’m interested in it all the same.
On February 1, the new poster for the Roland-Garros tournament was unveiled. A poster that you made, tell us about the origin of the project?
MV : At first, I did the cover of Beaux-Arts magazine. It was the director of the magazine, Fabrice Bousteau, who introduced me to a pre-selection to design the poster for the next edition of Roland-Garros. Last May, we were invited by the FFT, the French tennis federation, to Roland-Garros. We had dinner with members of the federation, we visited the premises.
We were three in the running for this poster. We had three months to produce as many posters as possible. I made three that I sent in mid-October. The director of the magazine presented my posters in front of the members of a jury and they kept one of my proposals. I got this good news in October. However, I had to make changes and I redid the drawing because it is made entirely in colored pencil.
For Roland-Garros, this is the only poster produced in colored pencil and also the only one to illustrate the real tennis courts represented in their entirety. I gave back my final version at the end of November and by the time the scanning and colorimetry work was done, after four months of secrecy, shortly after the Australian Open, the poster was unveiled.
What was the creative process for this poster?
MV : I first asked myself the question of what Roland-Garros represents. For me, it’s the place where there is the peak of tennis for two weeks. I wanted to play with the elements, I had the idea of the star ball.
And for the stars, I thought back to my college friend who had stars in his eyes when he talked about tennis. So I placed myself in the view that a young player might have who wants to set foot in this magical place. I wanted to show the path to reach to be one of the biggest stars in tennis.
It must have taken you a long time…
MV : I don’t think we really realize it, but it’s so much work, research, attempts, failures. I spent about 150 hours of work for a single proposal.
For the version that I had to redo, it took me 20 days, working between ten and twelve hours a day.
Today, we know that you are at the origin of the poster, that must necessarily be a source of pride?
MV : This whole adventure is finally coming to an end. It’s super touching. It’s not a bad line to put on your CV, I hope it will open doors for me.
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