Renowned for his vivid and vibrant works, French post-Cubist painter Claude Venard brought a palpable and compelling joie de vivre to his oeuvre which continues to resonate with new audiences the world over.
Born in 1913, Venard enrolled in the Ecole des Arts Appliques, Paris at age 17, where he began to develop his charismatic style. In order make ends meet, Claude supplemented his studies by working as a restorer at the Louvre, work which also provided valuable experience for his blossoming talents.
In the mid-1930s, Venard found a common cause in the Forces Nouvelles movement, an association of painters founded in Paris in 1934, led by Jacques Despierre, Robert Humblot and Georges Rohner.
Dedicated to revitalizing the French art scene, Forces Nouvelles shunned Impressionism, Cubism and Surrealism, instead championing a return to strict principles of craftsmanship and the vigour of modern life.
In 1938 Claude participated in their first exhibition of the Forces Nouvelles at Galerie Billiet-Worms. An interesting example of his work from this period can be seen here in the Galerie Pompidou Collection, Paris.
By the outbreak of World War II, the influence of the Forces Nouvelles was already on the wain and Venard rebelled against the movement. Instead, in 1943, Claude became a founding member of the Salon de Mai, an influential group of artists united against Nazi ideology, a high-risk endeavour in German occupied Paris.
Salon de Mai was an enthusiastic promoter of Avant-garde painters and during this period Claude began to experiment with a new post-Cubist style and bold geometric aesthetic that would bring him unprecedented success.
It was not simply the manner of Venard’s works that attracted interest but the execution too as the artist embraced a richer, more intense colour palette, often applied liberally with a palette knife to enhance the drama of his paintings.
The evolution of his style is well illustrated by Venard’s mid-1950s work Nature Morte, housed in the permanent collection of the Tate Gallery, London. Acclaim came quickly for Claude and over the next 40 years he was able to enjoy solo exhibitions in Paris, London, Tokyo, New York and throughout the USA.
Venard passed away at his home in France in 1999 but his work remains as popular today as at any point in his lifetime. Prominent works can be seen at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, the Kunstmuseum Basel and the Tokyo Musuem of Modern Art.
Click here to view Venard works currently available from BADA members.