Lucien Clerque, Violinist, Arles, 1954. Gelatin silver print, image size is 10 1/2 x 7 5/8 inches (26.7 x 19.4); sheet size is 11 x 8 1/2 inches (27.9 x 21.6 cm). Signed, titled and dated.

Clergue is the founder of the Recontres Internationales de la Photographie, Europe's major photography conference and showcase, in his native Arles, France. While Clergue's work has been exhibited worldwide and included in the collections of many major museums, UCR/California Museum of Photography's exhibition Signs of Gods and Goddesses will be his premiere West Coast retrospective exhibition.

Over the decades Clergue has enjoyed world-wide success with exhibitions across Europe and North America. Clergue received his doctorate at the University of Provence, Marseilles under the direction of Roland Barthes in 1979. He has taught at such institutions as the New School of Social Research; conducted countless workshops on photographic technique, particularly dealing with the nude; published a number of art volumes and been the subject of many museum catalogs. [cmp.ucr.edu]

He was named knight of the Légion d'honneur in 2003 and elected member of the Academy of Fine Arts of the Institute of France in 2006, on the creation of a new section dedicated to photography. Clergue is the first photographer to enter the Academy to a seat devoted to photography.