André Bouquet (1897-1987) - Barques de pécheurs

Very beautiful naïve art work, 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 attached).
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 suburb of Paris 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 most 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 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 internationalized when German television aired a report on this painter, completely unknown in his country at the time.
André Bouquet first exhibited in 1943 on Rue de Paris in Villeneuve Saint-Georges, in a cafe now disappeared, 'Chez Vivien'. He had to wait eight years to finally hold his first solo exhibition at the Galerie de l'Institut, on Rue de Seine in Paris. From then on, he exhibited at Galerie Berri and at Galerie 93 on Faubourg Saint-Honoré. UNESCO & UNICEF commissioned him for their greeting cards. Numerous books are devoted to this Artist's painting, including among others:
Frenh Provinces through the eyes of Modern Primitives; ISBN 2-903118-16-7
Proverbes vues 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 countless, both in France and abroad. In France, you can see André Bouquet’s works at the International Museum of Naïve Art in Vicq near Versailles, at the Laval Museum, or at the International Museum of Naïve Art Anatole-Jakovsky in Nice, the same JAKOVSKI who discovered him in 1950. Also note in Belgium the Université de Louvain-la-Neuve museum. André Bouquet also exhibited at the Grand Palais in Paris and at the Salon des Indépendants, where he was one of the guest of honor.

The works of this tranquil father of painting were 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 wonderfully, giving his work an incomparable graphic quality. The shy and discreet painter thus became a great man through his talent and work, with a strict aim 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 speaks to you.