André Bouquet (1897-1987) - Barques de pécheurs

Very beautiful naïve artwork, exhibited at the Galerie de l'Institut in Paris from September 14 to September 28, 1962 (the exhibition brochure with critique by Anatole JAKOVSKY is included).
Provenance: private collection.
Dimensions with frame: 30 x 45 cm.

André Bouquet was 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 a cultural venue to him on Avenue Carnot: “l'espace André Bouquet”.

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.

The naïve painting of André Bouquet was revealed internationally by German television, which produced a report on this painter completely unknown in his country at that time.
André Bouquet exhibited for the first time in 1943 on Rue de Paris in Villeneuve Saint-Georges in a café now disappeared, “Chez Vivien”. He had to wait eight years to finally have his first solo exhibition at the Galerie de l'Institut, rue de Seine in Paris. From then on, he exhibited at Galerie Berri and at Galerie 93 on Faubourg Saint-Honoré. UNESCO & UNICEF asked him for their greeting cards. Numerous books devote themselves to the painting of this Artist, including, among others:
French Provinces through the Eyes of Modern Primitives; ISBN 2-903118-16-7
Proverbes vus par les Naïf; Ed. Max Fourny
La Fête et les Naïfs; id.
Album Mondial de la peinture Naïve; Ed. Hervas

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 Musée International d'Art Naïf de Vicq près de Versailles, at the Musée de Laval, or at the Musée International d'Art Naïf Anatole-Jakovsky of Nice, that same JAKOVSKI who discovered him in 1950. Also note in Belgium the Musée de 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 of honor.

The work of this calm father of painting was 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 knew how to draw most admirably, which gives his work an incomparable graphic quality. The shy and discreet painter thus became a great figure through his talent and his work, in the absolute strive to respect what he sees with his eyes or in his dreams. Apart from his technique 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. André Bouquet's work is a work that speaks to you.