Perfectionism is extreme. The smallest detail magnified. The light is filtered. The shadows are subdued. We go beyond the phenomenon of simple representation to flirt with the exceptional. There reigns in these spaces virgin of human presence, a silent absoluteness. Loved by light and form, this artist born in Thonon in 1947, was a music teacher, then a textile designer before devoting himself entirely to his pictorial passion. Although self-taught, he was introduced to art as a child by his father, a painter himself.
His masters are found in Dutch painting of the 17th century and in the Russian and Scandinavian naturalist movements of the 19th century. Michel Trapezaroff maintains a deep respect for drawing and the classic rules of composition. Far from fashions and trends, he claims this classicism of writing. His patience is infinite. His demands are extreme. He is part of the lineage of traditional painters. However, he manages to surprise, as his paintings offer a sublimated vision of nature. An isolated chalet in the snow, a bank of Lake Geneva, giant trees standing in the countryside, the undergrowth... so many motifs drawn from life that he enjoys revealing with force and poetry. There is no need for instructions to understand his work.
All you have to do is observe and let yourself be carried away by the magic of this naturalistic spectacle which unfolds its quiet beauty. These panoramic views are lit with discretion and luminescence, revealing their intimacy in the softness of the color. The measured touch seems to reveal the slightest rustles. There is a strange beauty, a delicate vibration, in these compositions which seem to be shot through with a thrill of happiness. It reveals the intangible, it underlines the aesthetic universality of the landscape. Trapezaroff is a painter apart in our cultural landscape. His work could belong to past centuries. It is today and will be tomorrow. It is simply splendid and peaceful.
Thierry Sznytka, Arts News Magazine - 2008
Read more
