Anselme Boix-Vives

Anselme Boix-Vives was born in Spain in 1899, from a poor and large family, he does not have access to school. Boix-Vives moved to France in Savoie at the age of 18 to escape poverty. From his first years in Catalan soil, he will keep a taste for the great outdoors and nature.

He worked in different professions before opening a grocery store in Moutiers in Savoie. He married Marie-Louise with whom he had two sons: Anselme, a resistance fighter who died in 1944, and Laurent, an entrepreneur who led the Rossignol company.

The ravages of the Great War, and the martyrdom of the broken mouths will mark him deeply. This awareness will give birth to his utopian project of the early 1950s, the world peace plan which will obsess him to death. He will send his peace plan to the Queen of England and General De Gaulle who will not answer him.

When his wife died in 1962, he closed his business and devoted himself to painting. He is encouraged by his son who saw him draw behind bills from the store. He exhibited his first works in his old grocery store and had to endure the villagers' mockery for his work. He was nevertheless noticed and invited to exhibit in an art gallery. He buys a television in stride. Having no access to the outside world from where he is in Moutiers, television gives him the opportunity to paint the world as it is. He is then very influenced by what he sees and by the important personalities of this world. The death of President Kennedy gives him the opportunity to paint his funeral and his widow. He is also inspired by personalities from the entertainment world such as Josephine Baker.

Until his death in 1969, he produced more than 2,400 works in shimmering colors, in which we find a jumble of kings, queens, princesses, movie stars, politicians, animals, all in lush vegetation. During 7 years of intense creative activity, he deploys all his originality and his knowledge acquired over decades.

His work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in France and in Europe.