Les Alpilles, Circa 1940

Claude Gaveau   Emerging artists

Claude Gaveau is a French painter born in Neuilly-sur-Marne in 1940. He comes from a family of artists, his grandfather, for example, was the creator of the Verges du Jardin des Plantes in Paris. He is passionate since very young about painting and entered the School of Applied Arts of Paris in 1955 where he studied mural art for five years: stained glass, tapestry, mosaic and fresco. In 1960, he studied at the National Superior School of Fine Arts of Paris where he practiced painting with oil and pastels, lithography, and gouache.

Influenced by great painters such as Cézanne, Braque and Duffy, Gaveau gets inspired as well by music and lyricism. His talent was quickly recognized, in 1963 he won his first prize and obtained a scholarship from the Academy of Antwerp which allowed him to study Flemish painting in Brussels. In 1965, with only 25 years, he made his first solo exhibition at the Angle Aigu Gallery in Paris. His career took a real turn in 1968 when he was nominated for the "la Crtique Parrainé" Award by the Saint Placide Gallery in Paris. A recurrent traveler, the landscapes he observes all around the world allow him to broaden his artistic pallette.

Gaveau's work is internationally recognized for his nudes and his still life compositions. His bright palette of colors, gives the impression of being covered with silk, this in turn gives a certain subtlety to his work. His art is often described as "symphonic" since the elements he uses in each one of his compositions seem perfectly balanced, not real without being abstract, this gives a mysterious and singular aspect to his pieces, which makes them easily identifiable.