Saron-sur-Aube
Saron-sur-Aube (, literally ''Saron on Aube'') is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.
See also
*Communes of the Marne department
The following is a list of the 613 communes in the French department of Marne.
The co ...
— 14 January 1967, Paris) was a self-taught French painter. After marrying the Greek physician Élie Bontsolakis in 1939, she lived in Paris. She turned to painting after the Second World War, exhibiting frequently in Paris. In 1957, together with her husband she bought the
Château du Pin
The Château du Pin is a château in Fabras in Ardèche, southwestern France. It was built in the 12th century by the Chanaleilles family, then was heavily remodelled in the 16th century. The spot then acquired a dual function: military, with the a ...
in
Ardèche
Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux and in the
Château de Tournon
The Château de Tournon is a listed castle in Tournon-sur-Rhône, Ardèche
Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a pop ...
.
Early life
Born on 10 August 1917 in the village of Saron-sur-Aube in the Marne department, Colette Bonzo studied French literature at the Sorbonne. In 1939, she married the Greek physician Élie Bontzolakis and lived with him in central Paris.
Career
Bonzo had shown an interest in art since her childhood but had no formal training. Encouraged by her husband, during the Second World War, she took up painting, producing large, brightly coloured canvasses inspired by Impressionism. Her early works drew on social, political and religious themes but also included still lifes. After the end of the war, she regularly exhibited her works in Paris where they received considerable acclaim.
In 1957, she and her husband bought the 16th-century Château du Pin in the Cévennes district of the Ardèche. Bonzo's painting took a new turn as she produced works full of light and colour depicting the surroundings and the local inhabitants. ''Le Bal au bois de PaÏolive'' (1964), exhibited in the château is typical of the works she created there. ''L'Ours et le Lion'', a landscape depicting the nearby Paîolive rocks, is also exhibited,
Bonzo suffered from poor health over the years, including tuberculosis for two years from 1949 and cancer in 1962 which slowly led to her death. Even when ill, she continued to paint with enthusiasm. She participated in exhibitions every year until 1966 at the Salon des Femmes Peintres.
Colette Bonzo died in Paris on 14 January 1967 and was buried in the cemetery at
Fabras
Fabras is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.
Geography
The river Lignon forms all of the commune's western border; the river Ardèche forms small part of its northeastern border.
Population
Personalities
Colette Bonzo ...