Bertrand Rouby

Having lived in Marie-Galante for over 20 years, Bertrand Rouby has found his main source of inspiration in this island. The sea is present, or suggested, in most of his paintings, the atmosphere of which is almost always marine. The themes of dreams and travel also occupy an important place in his painting, as do Guadeloupe, its landscapes, its faces and its Creole identity.

A self-taught painter, discovering watercolor over 20 years ago was a revelation for him. Seduced from the outset by the sensuality and richness of this fascinating medium, he has never stopped exploring the infinite nuances of this light with its very particular vibrations, from the transparency of the most evanescent washes to the most intense contrasts. For Bertrand Rouby, watercolor is above all a story of water, and painting with watercolor also means dealing with chance, because water remains an unpredictable element that we never completely tame... The magic also lies, according to him, in this element of chance, which makes each watercolor a unique adventure.

At the origin of each of his watercolors, there is first an emotion. Between realism and expressionism, Bertrand Rouby likes his paintings to speak of what he feels and tell a story, which is not always revealed at first glance… And if the realism of his images captures the eye, it is to immerse it in an essentially poetic universe, sometimes dreamlike, even fantastical, a universe of softness and sensuality, a universe of light and reflections, of correspondences and metaphors.

Since 2017, Bertrand Rouby has exhibited his watercolors every year in Guadeloupe in personal and collective exhibitions. In 2023 and 2024, he participated in the Pool Art Fair Guadeloupe, an international artists' fair in Pointe-à-Pitre.

In 2024, he participated in the 19th edition of the International Watercolor Exhibition in Saint Yrieix la Perche, in mainland France.

His watercolors have twice been awarded the silver medal by an international jury of art professionals, as part of the Mondial ART Academia International Art Professionals Award in 2021 and 2023.