Raymond Berthelot

Work of fire by Raymond Berthelot, self-taught painter in love with colors and fantasy. Jean-Dominique, his son, ensured until 2016 the distribution of his work. Today, Eliane Berthelot, his wife, continues on the same path:

“My approach aims to continue to bring his work to life. »

1957 - 1963 | Youth course: Maco - Vienne - Nîmes

Raymond Berthelot was born in April 1921 in Macon (Saône et Loire). A self-taught artist, he devoted most of his leisure time to drawing and painting. He did his first oil painting, "La gare de Macon" on a scrap board. He was then 11 years old.

After the war, settled in Isère, he attended the Viennese drawing school with which he then exhibited twice, in 1955 and 1956. From this period there remain a few watercolors of the alleys of Lyon and the banks of the Rhône. (1957)

In 1957, he moved to Nîmes. In contact with the lights of the South and by meeting a rich local artistic milieu, his subjects of inspiration multiplied and his palette was illuminated. It was from 1959, after a few attempts at technique with a knife, that he passed to flat colors and clean lines. In this new style, he signed four large canvases representing the villages of the Nîmes region in the 4 seasons of the year.

1963 - 1980 | Surrealist influence and changes in society

Wishing to present something other than a beautiful image in his canvases, he will look for a way to convey his emotions through technique, favoring the theme over the details of the subject.

He then showed a great interest in the masters of surrealism, especially Dali, but also Delvaux and De Chirico. He will draw there the bases of what will be his own expression for many years.

The years 80-85 | The quirks of our world

But it was from 1981, when he ceased his professional activities, that he reached the peak of his art, in composition, mastery of drawing and color work. He dealt with strong themes, such as violence, war, loneliness, greed, freedom, death. With indifference (81), the third age (81), the polluters (84), the prisoners (82), the moon sinners (83), The price of death (83). Stop the massacre (85) ...,

1985 – 1996 | Transition period

Many works were produced during this period, mainly figurative, characters and landscapes. We will also note the religious themes and always the questions of society which remain present in his work.

1996-2005 | The imaginary painter

The series

This decade was marked by the 2 series of paintings, one on "Candide" and the other on "Music". From this period we will also retain some paintings where we find both various subjects, villages landscapes and works inspired by his vision of society (the razeteur, the arsonist).

Series: “Candde in search of Cunégonde. »

He liked to explain that his rereading of Voltaire's novel, "Candide ou L'optimisme", had provided him with "a pretext to paint". There are about forty canvases and cansons, illustrations of the most eventful passages of the book. We will see both an amusement showing great personal mastery but also winks at the masters of the past because he often tried to represent his subjects as such or such a famous artist could have done.

"Make Music" Series

Drawing his inspiration from listening to classical music, which he particularly loved, he produced between 2001 and 2004 some forty paintings, portraits of composers, instrumentalists or illustrations of famous works.

You can find his drawings and paintings:

Louis Français Museum in Plombières les Bains in 2022 (drawings)

City of Fernay les Voltaires in 2021 Candide series

Laverune Museum (34) Music series