Paysage de Printemps avec une Chapelle, Circa 1963

François Gos  

Fils d'Albert is a painter, designer, sculptor, poster artist and writer. Co-founder of the Art School of Lausanne - Switzerland - is an artist with a long and prolific career, at the service of a long-observed nature; a quick pencil stroke, an alert and decisive brush for strongly structured works.

Eldest son of Albert Gos, is a very versatile artist with a long and prolific career. A graduate of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Geneva after studying at Calvin college, his varied work is exhibited both in Switzerland and abroad. She zigzags through difficult, narrow paths, those that lead far from noise, far from faults and school quarrels, fashions for moving in the eternal world of nature, in the silence of the summits or even marveling at the immensity of the sea. Passionate about the mountains, tireless walker, he liked to undertake small escapades in Provence or Brittany, whose bright and powerful landscapes largely inspired him.

Paris...

His young Parisian experience marked him, forged in disciplines with wide horizons: on the sidelines of his economic survival as an artist, he was commissioned for a prestigious album inspired by "new art" which allowed creators to from a natural motif to stylize it, to introduce it into their work in jewelry and various adornments, in wallpapers, book covers, metal trinkets, stained glass windows and lamps, architectural details, lace and embroidery, leather, ceramics or any other decorative object. Thus, twenty plates on naturalist sketches of mountain plants, modulated, transposed, appeared in 1902 and the album was an immediate success (La Flore Alpine Décorative - Paris, central library of Fine Arts).

His quest for art ...

In all its forms, research into industrial techniques, his investigation into themes of various styles animates the artist: drawings and lithographs of cubist inspiration; posters (among others for the 2nd Geneva Motor Show - 1906 -); decorative compositions (Fête des Vignerons -1905 - in Vevey - Switzerland -); temptation of sculpture: monument in Amersfoort, Holland - 1917 -; capitals for the 1st Goetheanum - 1921 -, temple of anthroposophy according to the doctrine of Rudolf STEINER, in Dornach - Switzerland -; some busts and portraits, a decorated church in Poland.

In Saint-Gall - Switzerland -, François GOS creates patterns and ornamental variations for embroidery factories, famous at the time.

It was in Münich, where he stayed at the beginning of the 20th century, that François GOS was drawn to the city in the grip of all the attempts, all the excitement that would lead artistic creations towards an increasingly fragmented modernity.

Open-minded, curious and investigative temperament, François GOS has followed with attention all the trends in art that have succeeded one another, even sometimes mixed up, during the 20th century, as noted by the art critic, journalist, Jean -Claude MAYOR: "… without condemning anything, without admiring anything in excess, François GOS has dissected the fashions, extracted the sap, with which he enriched his palette".

The art of painting ...

It is therefore in painting that François Gos gives free rein to his talent, resulting from a great faculty of observation, supported by a solid technical training and magnified by a sensitivity, a gift of poetry that will seal his paintings. A good stroke of a pencil, a sense of volumes and the structure of a place, an alert and decisive brush will give his paintings a joyful firmness, an assurance of good quality that flourishes over the years, over the years. creations. He realizes numerous individual or collective exhibitions, important - prestigious - orders by large panoramas (railway, famous hotels of Zermatt). Tourist posters, postcards, postage stamps, illustrations of articles, books etc. are part of his creation, like writing for various Swiss newspapers, dailies or monthly.

In the last period of his life, François GOS opted for less figurative compositions, whose style and dull, erased colors will confuse his admirers and critics in front of this belated daring.

To note:

He was honored with many international distinctions for his body of work. Various publications, including the latest: “Découvertes & promenades” (1971); “La Flore Alpine” (1902, 2001).

François Gos is one of the co-founders of the “Allobrogia” company at the Geneva college dedicated to the discovery of the mountain. He is an honorary member of the Swiss Alpine Club. His international distinctions are numerous in recognition of his work. His bibliography is fruitful. He married, in 1923 Marguerite Engel,
school teacher and the couple had two children. The family lived in Geneva in the district of Champel, at chemin venel No 7. “La Soleillane”, name of the residence, which was for a long time a known meeting place for painters, writers, musicians and diplomats.