François-Marie Banier
Born (1947-06-27) 27 June 1947
Paris, France
Occupation(s)Novelist, playwright, artist, actor and photographer

François-Marie Banier (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa maʁi banje]) (born 27 June 1947) is a French novelist, playwright, artist, con man, actor and photographer. He is particularly known for his photographs of celebrities and other public figures and for his friendships with members of high society. In a prominent legal case, in 2016 he was convicted of 'abuse of weakness' of the elderly billionaire Liliane Bettencourt.

Life and career

Banier was born in Paris, France. He grew up in a middle-class family in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.[1] He has claimed he had been "completely incomprehensible to [his] parents".[2]

Despite his modest background, from an early age he was a precocious and hyperactive talent, who was able to develop friendships with some of Paris' wealthiest arts patrons and artists. At the age of 16, he met Salvador Dalí, who would send his car to bring Banier to his suite at the Hotel Meurice to discuss art.[3] At the age of 19, he befriended the wealthy heiress and patron of the arts Marie-Laure de Noailles who was then 64.[4]

Banier published his first novel, Les Résidences secondaires ou la Vie distraite (Second Homes or Distracted Life), at the age of 22. Around the same time, a well-known Parisian designer and antique dealer Madeleine Castaing collected some of his photographs.[5]

Over the years, Banier befriended many well-known public figures and celebrities, including Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Françoise Sagan, Samuel Beckett, Vladimir Horowitz, Louis Aragon, François Mitterrand, Kate Moss, Mick Jagger and Princess Caroline of Monaco.[1][6] He is a friend of Johnny Depp and his ex-Partner Vanessa Paradis, whom he met at his home in the south of France.[7] Banier is godfather to their daughter, Lily-Rose.[8][9] As of 2008 he shared his house with actor Pascal Greggory and his nephew Martin d’Orgeval.[10] [11]

Relationship with Liliane Bettencourt

In 1987, Banier was commissioned to photograph Liliane Bettencourt and Federico Fellini for the French magazine Egoiste. Bettencourt was one of the principal shareholders of L'Oréal and one of the wealthiest persons in the world with an estimated fortune of US$40.1 billion.[12] Over the ensuing years, Banier and Bettencourt became friends and she became his chief benefactor, bestowing gifts upon him estimated to be worth as much as €1.3 billion. These gifts included a life insurance policy worth €253 million in 2003, another life insurance policy worth €262 million in 2006,[13] 11 works of art in 2001 valued at €20 million, including paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, Delaunay and Léger and a photograph by surrealist Man Ray[1][6] and cash. The life insurance policies were allegedly signed over to Banier after Bettencourt was recovering from two hospital stays in 2003 and 2006.[2]

In December 2007, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the daughter of Bettencourt, lodged a criminal complaint against Banier, accusing him of abus de faiblesse (or the exploitation of a physical or psychological weakness for personal gain) over Bettencourt.[14] As a result of her complaint, the Brigade Financière, the financial investigative arm of the French national police, opened an investigation and, after interviewing members of Bettencourt's staff, determined to present the case to a court in Nanterre for trial in September 2009.[2] In December 2009, the court delayed ruling on the case until April 2010 (later extended until July 2010) pending the results of a medical examination of Bettencourt's mental state.[15] However, Bettencourt refused to submit to these examinations.[16]

In July 2010, the trial was adjourned again until autumn 2010, at the earliest, after details of tape recordings made by Bettencourt's butler became public. The tapes allegedly reveal that Bettencourt had made Banier her "sole heir" (excluding the L'Oréal shares which made up the bulk of her estate and which had already been signed over to her daughter and two grandsons).[17] Bettencourt later removed Banier from her will.[18]

In 2015 Banier was convicted of 'abuse of weakness' of Liliane Bettencourt, prosecutor Gérard Aldigé stating he had "imposed his control over her like a spider spinning its web. And once he had her in his net, he never let her go. She became his thing. He dealt with her like a vampire."[19] Banier was sentenced to two and a half years prison, and ordered to pay €158 million in damages to Liliane Bettencourt. Seven other defendants, including Liliane Bettencourt’s financial advisor, lawyer, and notary, were also convicted and given lesser sentences.

Banier appealed. The second trial, which concluded in May 2016, upheld the conviction, but reduced his sentence to four years suspended and a €375,000 fine, cancelling the other damages.[20][21][22]

Selected works

Novels

  • Les Résidences Secondaires, Grasset, 1969
  • Le Passé composé, Grasset, 1971
  • La Tête la première, Grasset, 1972
  • Balthazar, fils de famille, Gallimard, 1985, Grand prix des lectrices de Elle
  • Sur un air de fête, Gallimard, 1990
  • Les Femmes du métro Pompe, Gallimard, 2006
  • Johnny Dasolo, Gallimard, 2008

Art Books

  • On N'est Jamais Tranquile, Steidl, 2010

Plays

  • Hôtel du lac, Gallimard, 1975
  • Nous ne connaissons pas la même personne, Grasset, 1978
  • Je ne t'ai jamais aimé, Gallimard, 2000

Photography

  • Photographies, Gallimard/Denoël, 1991
  • Past-Present, William Morrow, New York, 1996 ; Schirmer/Mosel, Munich 1997
  • Vivre, São Paulo, Pinacoteca do Estado ; Rio de Janeiro, Museum de Arte Moderna, 1999
  • François-Marie Banier, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Asahi Schimbun, 2000
  • Brésil, Gallimard, 2001
  • François-Marie Banier, Miami Beach, Bass Museum of Art ; Gallimard, 2003
  • Le Chanteur muet des rues, en collaboration avec Erri de Luca, éd. Martin d'Orgeval, Gallimard, 2006
  • Perdre la tête, Die schönsten deutschen Bücher (Prix du meilleur livre allemand, section photographie), 2006 ; Silver Crown Award, Moscou, 2007
  • Vive la vie, with photographs of Natalia Vodianova. Steidl, Göttingen, Germany, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86521-821-6.
  • Beckett, Steidl, 2009

Art exhibitions

  • 1991 : Musée national d'Art moderne, Centre Georges-Pompidou, Paris
  • 1994 : Bunkamera Gallery, Tokyo ; galerie Beatrice Wassermann, Munich
  • 1997 : Villa Farnèse, Rome
  • 1998 : Private Heroes, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart
  • 2000 : Fotos y Pinturas, musée national des Beaux Arts d'Argentine, Buenos Aires
  • 2001 : Täglich Neues, musée Ludwig ; Coblence ; Budapest
  • 2003 : Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris
  • 2003 : Transphotographiques, Lille, Crypte de la Cathédrale de la Treille
  • 2005 : Perdre la tête, Académie de France à Rome, Villa Medici
  • 2006 : True Stories, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul
  • 2007 : Perdre la tête, Manège de Moscou
  • 2007 : Galerie Gagosian, Los Angeles
  • 2007 : Written Photos, Villa Oppenheim, Berlin
  • 2007 : Transphotographiques, Lille, Eglise St Maurice
  • 2009 : Beckett, Maison de la Photographie, Lille

Filmography (actor)

References

  1. 1 2 3 The bitter family battle for the L’Oréal billion Archived 8 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Evening Standard, 20 July 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Generous to a Fault?, The New York Times, 21 August 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  3. ↑ Because he’s worth it?, The Daily Telegraph, 15 December 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  4. ↑ Did man con French heiress out of $1.5 billion?, NBC News, 11 December 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  5. ↑ François-Marie Banier: un ami qui vous veut du bien, 16 January 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  6. 1 2 Because she’s worth charming, The Times, 21 December 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  7. ↑ L'Oréal heiress gives €1bn to photographer 'because he's worth it', The Independent, 15 December 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  8. ↑ Une affaire de famille, Forbes, 11 March 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  9. ↑ Le favori qui valait un milliard Archived 22 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Le Journal du Dimanche, 26 July 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  10. ↑ Où est passé l'argent de Liliane Bettencourt?, 23 December 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  11. ↑ "L'Oréal billionairess's €1bn gift: Because he's worth it?". Independent.co.uk. 11 December 2009.
  12. ↑ Kilachand, Sean (21 March 2012). "Forbes History: The Original 1987 List Of International Billionaires". Forbes. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  13. ↑ Photographer on Trial for Receiving Gigantic Gifts from French Heiress, ABC News, 1 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  14. ↑ Une affaire de famille, Forbes, 11 March 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  15. ↑ Heiress Case Delayed, With Medical Tests Ordered, The New York Times, 11 December 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  16. ↑ Secret Tapes Delay L'Oréal Heiress Case, The Wall Street Journal, 2 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  17. ↑ Embarrassment for Sarkozy as £1bn L'Oréal feud comes to court, The Independent, 2 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  18. ↑ French police raid home of L'Oreal heiress, CNN, 1 September 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  19. ↑ Tom Sancton, The Death Of The Worlds Richest Woman and the End of the Bettencourt Affair, Vanity Fair, 22 September 2017
  20. ↑ Robert-Diard, Pascale (24 August 2016). "Affaire Bettencourt : François-Marie Banier condamné à quatre ans de prison avec sursis". Le Monde.fr. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  21. ↑ Durand-Souffland, Stéphane (24 August 2016). "Affaire Bettencourt : François-Marie Banier échappe à la prison". Le Figaro. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  22. ↑ Samuel, Henry (21 September 2017). "World's richest woman and L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt dies". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
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