André Bouquet (1897-1987) - Barques de pécheurs

Very beautiful work of naive art, exhibited at the Galerie de l'Institut in Paris from September 14 to September 28, 1962 (the exhibition brochure is attached, with a critique by Anatole Jakovsky).
Provenance: private collection.
Dimensions with frame: 30 X 45 cm.


André Bouquet is a painter born in La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire, at the end of the 19th century on September 19, 1897. His renown extends far beyond Villeneuve Saint-Georges, a small town in the Paris suburbs, in the Val de Marne, where he lived in a small apartment since 1933 and where he ended his life in 1987. This town where he spent the greatest part of his life, dedicated to him a cultural space on Avenue Carnot: "the André Bouquet space".
At the beginning of his career, the painters HEUZE and GOERG, members of the Institute, had BOUQUET work, and the painter Georges FOUCAULT gave him his advice. His work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in France and around the world.

André Bouquet's naïve art was revealed internationally by German television, which produced a report on this painter who was entirely unknown in his own country at the time.
André Bouquet exhibited for the first time in 1943 on Rue de Paris in Villeneuve Saint-Georges, in a café that has since disappeared, “Chez Vivien.” He had to wait eight years to finally stage his first solo show at the Institut Gallery on Rue de Seine in Paris. From then on, he would exhibit at Galerie Berri and at Galerie 93 on Faubourg Saint-Honoré. UNESCO and UNICEF commissioned him for their greeting cards. Numerous books are devoted to this artist's painting, among others.
French Provinces through the eyes of Modern Primitives; ISBN 2-903118-16-7
Proverbs Seen by the Naïfs; Max Fourny Ed.
The Party and the Naïfs; ibid.
World Album of Naive Painting; Hervas Editions

Museums that have acquired some of his works are numerous, both in France and abroad. In France you can see André Bouquet's works at the International Museum of Naive Art in Vicq near Versailles, at the Laval Museum, or at the Anatole-Jakovsky International Museum of Naive Art in Nice, the same JAKOVSKI who discovered him in 1950. Also note in Belgium the Museum of Louvain-la-Neuve. André Bouquet also exhibited at the Grand Palais in Paris and at the Salon des Indépendants where he was one of the invited guests.

The work of this quiet father of painting has been compared by eminent critics such as Robert Vrinat to the Douanier Rousseau and to Jean Eve. André Bouquet possessed an undeniable superiority over many naïve painters; he drew admirably well, which gives his work an incomparable graphic quality.
The shy and discreet painter thus became a remarkable figure through his talent and his work, in his absolute commitment to respecting what he sees with his eyes or in his dreams. Aside from the technique he acquired through diligent work, André Bouquet is a true poet. He translates everyday scenes with such sensitivity that this scene becomes a dream and enchants you. The work of André Bouquet is a work that speaks to you.