André Brasilier
1929 - 2026
Méditerranée (Mediterranean)
Oil on canvas
146 x 97 cm (57 ¹/₂ x 38 ¹/₄ inches)
Signed lower right, André Brasilier
Signed with initials, titled and dated on the stretcher, Méditerranée A. B. 2013
146 x 97 cm (57 ¹/₂ x 38 ¹/₄ inches)
Signed lower right, André Brasilier
Signed with initials, titled and dated on the stretcher, Méditerranée A. B. 2013
Opera Gallery, New York
Private collection, acquired from the above
Private collection, acquired from the above
London, Opera Gallery, André Brasilier, 2013, p. 9 (illustrated)
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the artist's studio.
This original artwork by André Brasilier is available for immediate purchase.
This original artwork by André Brasilier is available for immediate purchase.
André Brasilier
biography
Born to artist parents in the region of Anjou in France, André Brasilier was immersed in an artistic milieu from an early age. His father, Jacques Brasilier (1883–1965), was a Symbolist painter. Following in his parents’ footsteps, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied with the French painter Maurice Brianchon. In 1954, he was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome, allowing him to study at the Académie de France in Rome.
Among his main sources of inspiration, Brasilier cited Gauguin, Bonnard and Matisse. However, he was first and foremost inspired by nature and the human form. His most recurrent subjects included pastoral scenes inspired by the landscape of his native Anjou, the sea, women and horses. He treated these subjects with an airy and dream-like quality, using cool, soft pastel colours. Although he studied his subjects from nature, he was not a figurative painter in the traditional sense; his figures on the canvas were abstracted and simplified. His insistence on simplicity reflected the influence of Japanese artists. As he said: “I always try to give the quintessence of a subject with little effect, to say a lot with a little.”
Despite their simplicity, Brasilier’s cavalcades and horse paintings were filled with a sense of movement. His horses were depicted both with and without their riders, in forests or on the beach. He favoured large formats and used broad, bold brushstrokes to capture movement in his paintings, explaining: “when I paint, I want to feel life in my movements.” Another recurrent subject of his paintings was the figure of a woman. She was none other than his wife, Chantal, his greatest muse and most permanent source of inspiration.
Since his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Drouet in 1959, in which he depicted musical scenes, Brasilier was honoured with over one hundred solo exhibitions across seven countries, including two major retrospectives at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and the Museum Haus Ludwig für Kunstausstellungen Saarlouis in Germany. In addition to producing paintings, drawings and watercolours, his non-pictorial repertoire included ceramics, mosaics and theatrical scenery and costumes for the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Brasilier’s work was highly sought after by collectors worldwide, with a particularly strong collector base in Asia.
Among his main sources of inspiration, Brasilier cited Gauguin, Bonnard and Matisse. However, he was first and foremost inspired by nature and the human form. His most recurrent subjects included pastoral scenes inspired by the landscape of his native Anjou, the sea, women and horses. He treated these subjects with an airy and dream-like quality, using cool, soft pastel colours. Although he studied his subjects from nature, he was not a figurative painter in the traditional sense; his figures on the canvas were abstracted and simplified. His insistence on simplicity reflected the influence of Japanese artists. As he said: “I always try to give the quintessence of a subject with little effect, to say a lot with a little.”
Despite their simplicity, Brasilier’s cavalcades and horse paintings were filled with a sense of movement. His horses were depicted both with and without their riders, in forests or on the beach. He favoured large formats and used broad, bold brushstrokes to capture movement in his paintings, explaining: “when I paint, I want to feel life in my movements.” Another recurrent subject of his paintings was the figure of a woman. She was none other than his wife, Chantal, his greatest muse and most permanent source of inspiration.
Since his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Drouet in 1959, in which he depicted musical scenes, Brasilier was honoured with over one hundred solo exhibitions across seven countries, including two major retrospectives at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and the Museum Haus Ludwig für Kunstausstellungen Saarlouis in Germany. In addition to producing paintings, drawings and watercolours, his non-pictorial repertoire included ceramics, mosaics and theatrical scenery and costumes for the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Brasilier’s work was highly sought after by collectors worldwide, with a particularly strong collector base in Asia.
André Brasilier
biography
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