Biography

CLAUDE GAVEAU

Poetic Light

There are certain works of art which attract our admiration at once. We experience a kind of fascination which results from their effect upon our sensitivity, a fascination which is not related to any esthetic in vogue; a fascination which introduces us to a separate world, a strongly structured world, of an astonishing plastic density.

“The truth is revealed only when it is touched by poetic light.” Gaveau has made his own this aphorism of Georges Braque. His search for the absolute opens the way to an intense lyricism. Early on, he understood that appearances hide a mystery. He tried to solve this mystery with deferent patience and an unvarying humility. He knows that he must re-invent the world in order to understand it better, in order to penetrate it and reveal its secrets. It is an audacious, solitary undertaking demanding his best efforts.

An enemy of excess, Gaveau believes in happiness, intent as he is on the elegiac and synthetic transfiguration of reality. He abhors paintings that pose puzzles, mannerist extravagance, the emphasis on misery, nightmare, in which all pretended artists take pleasure in order to hide their creative powerlessness, the poverty of their technique, their lack of inspiration and enthusiasm. With all his heart and soul, he loves nature, human beings, balance, and the life of dreams.

For Gaveau, painting is a spiritual exercise, even more than a decisive experience. The power of his lyricism is drawn from an incessant and fruitful dialogue, from a permanent complicity with the world that surrounds him, as well as with his innermost being which shines forth in each of his creations: paintings, gouaches, drawings, lithographs.

Gaveau rigorously searches for powerful harmonies and is a master of magic reality while remaining true to his scrupulous, methodical nature. Gaveau does not cheat with truth, his truth! The problems of painting, composition, building up the painting, blending colors, finding the best way of depicting light, organizing the space, transmitting the emotions. . . he faces up to all these challenges without evasion or falsity. He knows that each painting is a marvelous adventure, a test, a source of exultation and of difficulty. Gaveau is not a man to evade difficulties. Living apart from the noise of cities, he is not concerned with esthetic quarrels, with publicity seeking complaints. He knows that each day he will be alone before his easel, and there he must await a miracle to recompense him for his patient efforts; because he will have been a witness. Fate will smile upon him, after his labor. Thus the touching paintings are born, so developed in the Dionysian atmosphere of Gaveau, which brought him fame while he was still very young. Success has not spoiled him. He remains humble, constantly trying to surpass his previous efforts. This personal characteristic of Gaveau should be underlined. He has not limited himself to a genre, to a “manner” as have too many would-be painters working to the point of satiety on the same theme.

Gaveau is a composer of symphonies who works to capture beauty in all its beauty. It goes without saying that Gaveau possesses a meticulous awareness of his craft and of his art. He remains faithful to the motif, to the object, to the unmistakable poetic elements. His art is the product of a skilled alchemy. “Seeing” in the Rimbaudian sense of the word, he paints landscapes, seascapes, nudes, couples, still lifes, flowers. Gaveau reveals the fantastic, bringing real life to the level of legend.

This masterful artist was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine December 5, 1940. His studies started at the prestigious Ecole des Arts Appliqués in Paris and for five years he learned the disciplines of mural and fresco painting, tapestry design and stained glass making. He was then a student for six years at the Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts also in Paris, becoming equally accomplished in oil painting, watercolor, drawing and lithography. Awarded a scholarship to study Flemish paintings, he spent four months in Belgium, and this led to his first one-man show in Brussels in 1965. After his first success Claude Gaveau has been featured in more than 60 one-man shows all over the globe from France, Belgium, Monaco, South Korea, Japan and the United States. Claude Gaveau was awarded the Silver Medal from the city of Paris and again a Silver Medal from Japan for distinguished paintings. Artistes Francais d’Automne honored him with the Gold Medal and from Monaco he received Grand Prix du Gouvernement.

Gallerie Je Reviens in pleased to make the artwork of Claude Gaveau available for your viewing pleasure.