Claude Venard

30 Cork Street, London, W1S 3NG T +44 (0)20 7287 7750 F +44 (0)20 7287 7751

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The Studio of Claude Venard, Provence, France, 2008

Alon Zakaim Fine Art

Claude Venard 1913 - 1999

Alon Zakaim Fine Art is pleased to present an exhibition dedicated to Claude Venard, celebrating the life and works of an artist who carved himself a career in Paris during the mid twentieth century.

This latest exhibition at Alon Zakaim Fine Art covers a selection of Claude Venard’s works from the most active period of his life. The artist painted a huge number of works with great persistence but never catalogued any of them. As it is often difficult to date his paintings, the twenty-three works in this catalogue are arranged according to their subject matter and style. Each composition exposes the key subjects that captured Venard’s imagination throughout his career and follows the development of the artist’s post-cubist style. Collectively the paintings demonstrate a powerful sense of the artist’s magnificent joie de vivre.

Alon Zakaim Fine Art strives to be a respected authority on the complete works of Claude Venard. Since establishment, the gallery has regularly exhibited the artist’s paintings and has developed strong relationships with collectors worldwide.

presents

Claude Venard was born in 1913 in Burgundy to a family of the French bourgeoisie. He enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts at the age of seventeen, but finding that it did not suit him, quit after only forty-eight hours. Instead he took evening classes in painting at the École des Arts Appliqués. In 1936 he started working as an art restorer for the Louvre Museum which enabled him to perfect his artistic training and acquire excellent skills.

By the 1930s Claude Venard’s name began to figure in contemporary art exhibitions in France and overseas. In 1936 (when abstract painting was the most widespread genre) he contributed to a celebrated show with the group of abstract artists, ‘Forces Nouvelles,’ along with Roger Humblot, Francis Gruber, André Marchand and Pierre Tal-Coat, at the Billet-Worms Gallery. Although the group gained huge recognition following the show, Venard soon distanced himself from them and went on to hold his first solo show in 1944 at the Galerie Barreiro in Paris.

In 1939 Claude Venard was called to service in WWII and was taken prisoner in Germany the following year. Against the odds his determination soon lead to escape when he bravely took advantage of the laxity of the camp guards and walked out of the camp calmly carrying a bucket, as though embarking on a chore. Venard’s miraculous escape serves as a fine example of the artist’s brilliant spirit and independence of mind. It was after serving in World War II that Claude Venard’s life was transformed, and with his increasing popularity he could afford to put painting before anything else.

Most of Claude Venard’s subjects were still lifes and landscape scenes. Influenced initially by the Primitives, he drew a lot from the technique of Courbet before moving his focus onto the principles of the Cubists, from which he developed his own post-cubist style. Over time his work became more abstract and he began using increasingly linear patterning and flat patches of colour. Remaining faithful to his post-cubist style, the artist progressively enhanced his palette until reaching the crudest of colours. Later in his career, Venard became increasingly absorbed in creating texture in his compositions which he achieved using thick impasto and occasionally mixed media such as cardboard and sand.

The success of Claude Venard’s career is evident in the vast number of solo shows he held in Paris, New York, Chicago, Munich and Tokyo among many other major cities. His paintings are part of permanent collections in the Modern Art Museum, Paris; The Tate Gallery, London; The Metropolitan Museum, New York and The Tokyo Museum. The artist’s energy and love of life is laid bare in the vibrancy and energy of his work. Painting tirelessly until his death, Claude Venard died in France in 1999.

Claude Venard1913 - 1999

Place de la Concorde, 1956, oil on canvas, 91.5 x 65 cm

ProvenanceArthur Tooth & Sons Ltd, London

Le Pont Suspendu, oil on canvas, 81.5 x 100 cm

Paysage, gouache on paper, 48 x 62 cm

Le Port de Locquemeau, 1947, oil on canvas, 65 x 81 cm

Paysage, oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm

ProvenanceGalerie Félix Vercel, New York, Paris

Paysage avec Deux Arbres, oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm


Nature Morte au Couvette, oil on canvas, 74 x 94 cm


Composition, oil on canvas, 97 x 129.5 cm

La Sirene, oil on canvas, 115 x 146 cm

ProvenanceGavin Graham Gallery, London

Le Phare, oil on canvas, 65.4 x 81.3 cm

ProvenanceGalerie Félix Vercel, New York

Les Voiliers, oil on canvas, 74 x 74 cm

Nature Morte au Piano, oil and sand on canvas, 96 x 146 cm

Le Main, 1991, oil on canvas, 114.5 x 146 cm

ProvenanceThe Estate of Madame Venard

La Pendule, 1991, oil on canvas, 114.5 x 146 cm

ProvenanceThe Estate of Madame Venard

Nature Morte au Sacré Coeur, 1991, oil on canvas, 114.5 x 146 cm

Provenance The Estate of Madame Venard

Nature Morte au Livre, oil on canvas, 33 x 46 cm

La Mandoline, oil on canvas, 19 x 24.5 cm

ProvenanceNoé Willer, Art Conseil, Paris

Nature Morte avec la Pastèque, oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

ProvenanceStephen Silagy Galleries, Beverly Hills, CA

Nature Morte aux Tournesols, oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Composition à la Fenêtre, oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

ProvenanceGalerie AB, Paris

Les Mimosas, oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm

ProvenanceGavin Graham Gallery, London

Composition, mixed media on canvas, 116 x 89 cm


La Pastèque, oil on canvas, 46 x 55 cm


Exhibitions

1937First Exhibition, Tuileries Autumn Show Group Exhibition, Washington, USA

1938Signs Manifesto ‘Rupture’ Participates in second exhibition of The New Generation, Billiet–Vorms Gallery, Paris

1937 - 1945Kept company with Marchand, Gruber, Tal-Coat, Pellan, Civet and Clave at the Dome.Group Exhibition, Visconti Galleries

1944Private Exhibition, Barriero Gallery, Paris Group Exhibition, Roux-Hentchel Gallery

1945Founding member of the May Art ShowExhibits with Diego Giacometti, Barriero Gallery, Paris

1946 Private Exhibition, De Kneiff Gallery, Paris

1947Group Exhibition, Anglo-French Art Centre, London Exhibition, Barriero Gallery, Paris Group Exhibition, Whitney Museum, NY

1959Presentation of one of Venard’s works at the Tate Gallery, London Exhibition, Charpentier Exhibition, Paris

1960Exhibition, Poche Gallery, with Civet, Calmettes & Baron-Renourard

1961Group Exhibition, Leicester Gallery

1962Exhibition, Romanet-Vercel Gallery, NYExhibition, Romanet Gallery, Paris

1963 Private Exhibition, Heseler Gallery, MunichPrivate Exhibition, Romanet Gallery, Paris Private Exhibition, MunichThe ‘Provence’ Exhibition, Romanet-Vercel Gallery, NY

1964 Private Exhibition, Romanet-Vercel Gallery, Palm BeachThe ‘Paris, Insolite’ Exhibition, Romanet Gallery, Paris

1965 Private Exhibition, Romanet-Vercel Gallery, NY

1967 La Femme Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, NY

Private Exhibition, E Walter Gallery, NY

1968The ‘Under Open Sky’ Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, NY

1969Retrospective, The Reading Museum, NY Private Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, ParisPlein Soleil Exhibition, NYGroup Exhibition, Jonelle Gallery, Palm Springs, USA Personal Exhibition, E Acosta Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA

1970Private Exhibition, Anganona Gallery, Caracas

1971Private Exhibition, Vercel Galleries, NY & Paris, Printemps à Paris Group Exhibition, Anganona Gallery, CaracasPrivate Exhibition, Tallien Gallery, Saint-Tropez Private Exhibition, Art and Culture, La Seyne sur Mer

1973 Private Exhibition,Vercel Gallery, NY

1974Flowers 2001, Vercel Galley, NY Group Exhibition, Sloane Gallery, Washington

1975Private Exhibition, Japan

1978Private Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, Paris

1980Music Hall Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, NYPrivate Exhibition, Galleria del Arte Maison Bernard, Caracas

1981Private Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, Paris Private Exhibition, Palm Springs Museum, USA

1982/3Retrospective, Vercel Gallery, NY Private Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, NY

1984 Private Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, Paris Exhibition, Palais des Artes, Marseille

1985Private Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, Paris Le Printemps Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, NY Group Exhibition, Metropolitan Museum, NY

1986Ma Provence Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, NY

1988/9 Private Exhibition, Vercel Gallery, NY & Paris

1990 Private Exhibition, Merle Gallery, ParisGroup Exhibition, Alan 1950 Gallery

1991Exhibition for the opening of Villa Tamaris, La Seyne-sur-MerPrivate Exhibition, Vasarely Foundation, Aix-en-Provence

1992Private Exhibition, Villa Tamaris, La Seyne sur Mer

1993 Private Exhibition, Art Auction, Monaco Private Exhibition, Barlier Galleries, Paris Guest of Honour, Figurative Art Show, Saint-Die

1994 Private Exhibition, Cloitre Gallery, La Rochelle Private Exhibition, Angora Centre, Guilherand-Granges Private Exhibition, Manoir du Mad

1995Private Exhibition, Filderhalle, StuttgartRetrospective, Florence Basset Gallery, Flassan sur Issole

1996 Chateau de Vale Exhibition, Christiane Valle Gallery

1997Symphonie en Blanc Majeur Exhibition, Saint-Paul Gallery, LyonPrivate Exhibition, Cloitre Saint -Michel Gallery, La Rochelle First Evian Art Show Private Exhibition, Christiane Valle Gallery, Clermont Ferrand

1998 Private Exhibition, Saltiel Gallery, Le Castellet International Spring Art Show, Lyon Art Society Private Exhibition, La Casadi Gallery Petits Formatts Exhibition, Saltiel Gallery, Le Castellet

1999Les Peintres de la Marine Exhibition, Saint-Paul Gallery, LyonExhibition, Le Gallery de l’Universite LyonExhibition, Le Belle Angele Gallery, Pont-Aven

2000Hommage à Claude Venard, Saltiel Gallery, Sainte Paul de Vence

Alon Zakaim at the studio of Claude Venard, Provence, France, 2008

‘You’ll never cheat on reality… your little circles, your little squares, your yellows, your reds, your greens … I can really see that they are life, mind and matter, see how they embrace vines and sandy beaches, pine trees against the sky, the metro emerging from a tunnel and heaps of stones on the roads of Louviers. If I may pay the ultimate homage: the viewer wants to have a drink with you.’ 1

¹ Paul Gégauff, in a letter to Claude Venard, as cited in C.Venard, Paris, 2001, p.192

Gégauff also wrote the preface to Printemps à Paris, exhibition catalogue, Vercel Galleries, New York & Paris, 1971

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Claude Venard

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Transcript of Claude Venard