Les grandes vacances, 2023

Christophe Streichenberger  

Born in Paris in 1962, Christophe Streichenberger lives and works in Gordes, France. He was introduced very early to drawing and painting by his two grandmothers, both of them artists. They guide him in choosing his colors and in the proportions of his drawings. They visit museums and galleries in Paris and he discovers some of the great painters of the time, such as Francis Bacon, whose work touches him deeply. He hesitates before deciding to become an artist though.

After his Baccalaureate, he doesn't pursue his studies and goes to the UK to learn English. Back in France, he has to do his military service, still mandatory at the time. He chooses the Mountain Infantry, a difficult service that gives him the occasion to meet people from various social backgrounds. He draws portraits of his colleagues and superiors.

At the age of 21, he is starts working for the Banque de l'Image in Paris as a sales person. He becomes in charge of the institution's cinema department. He discovered wonderful art reproductions of the most important artists of the 20th century. He gets to know American artists such as Edward Hopper and later Warhol and Lichtenstein.

His need to express himself becomes a real obsession. Supported by his family and friends, he has his first show in Gordes, in the Vaucluse. Christophe Streichenberger exhibits his work in a various galleries in Paris and the rest of France.