Fernand Dubuis

Fernand Dubuis, born on April 25, 1908 in Sion (Valais, Switzerland), is a Swiss painter and draftsman, a leading figure in modern art in French-speaking Switzerland. After a brief period of training at the Lausanne School of Drawing, he left for Paris in 1930, where he attended the Colarossi, Ranson and Grande Chaumière academies, then the studio of Maurice Denis.

Influenced by Cubism and the theories of Gino Severini, he moved towards a colorful abstraction, asserting that "color values alone, without reference to nature, must give life to the painting." His style, poised between figuration and non-figuration, is distinguished by a constant search for light and formal balance.

In the 1950s, he lived alternately in Gordes (Vaucluse) and in Normandy, at the Château du Tertre, owned by the family of Roger Martin du Gard. His work, marked by vertical compositions and plays of colored bands, is praised for its lyricism and rigor.

Dubuis also left behind theoretical writings on color and art, demonstrating a cerebral and poetic approach. He died on September 2, 1991, in Sérigny (Orne), leaving behind a body of work recognized in Switzerland and France, and championed by the Fernand Dubuis Foundation.

An unclassifiable artist, between tradition and modernity, whose mastery of color continues to fascinate.