Yves Calméjane

Born in 1956 near Paris, Yves Calméjane studied fine arts in Nantes and Paris. He then followed tracks of his favorite painters to settle in Provence, and finally joined Auvergne in 2013.

A Nature lover, Yves Calméjane paints on the spot, his easel laying in the landscape. Though a figurative painter, Yves Calméjane never tries to report details : he is also an impressionist, and his only velleity is to seize the "moment", in a form of communion with reliefs and vegetation, to such an extent that his paintings, at close range, have kind of an abstract aspect. It is only when stepping a couple feet backward that the magic happens, and thick brush lines merge into a humble yet majestic landscape.

His hilly landscapes evoke bouncing perspectives of Auguste Chabaud and Jean Arène, influences asserted by Yves Calméjane but from which he quickly emancipated.