Céline Raphaël-Leygues

After studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts ( ENSBA ), Atelier Maurice Brianchon, I successively became a member of the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon des Artistes Français, the Salon d'Automne, the Salon International des Beaux-Arts, and a member of the Taylor Foundation...

I am a figurative artist and Art and Beauty are the sunshine of my life. Creating seems as natural to me as breathing, everything fills me with wonder and I need to describe, with my brushes, the happiness that life offers me.

On my first trip to Africa, as I walked down the steps of the aeroplane, the intoxicating smell of wet earth, sweat and spices, the brightly coloured boubous of the people meeting the travellers, I knew immediately how much I would love this country! In Abidjan, my first trip to Africa, under the grey skies, the colours flapped like flags and the people were beautiful, their matt skin contrasting with the rich colours in which they were enveloped; nature was luxuriant, the heat torrid, but the light evening breeze, under a pink sky, was the reward of the day.