Gaston Chaissac (1910–1964) was a French painter. An

autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...

and son of the French rural working class, he became involved in the art world when he lived next door to

Otto Freundlich Otto Freundlich (10 July 1878 – 9 March 1943) was a German painter and sculptor of Jewish origin. A part of the first generation of abstract painters in Western art, Freundlich was a great admirer of cubism. Life Freundlich was born in ...

and Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss in Paris during the 1930s. They showed him modern art and supported his efforts to paint, helping him along and promoting his work. Gaston Chaissac is often considered to be part of the Art Brut or

Outsider Art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates e ...

category. Some artists have described his style as "modern rustic." Chaissac's art was praised by

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what ...

when he first came across it in 1946. He also corresponded for some time with such prominent French artists and writers as

Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...

and

Raymond Queneau Raymond Queneau (; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo ('' Ouvroir de littérature potentielle''), notable for his wit and cynical humour. Biography Queneau wa ...

. Writing was an element of Gaston Chaissac's work from the beginning with his own signature. His signature evolved from being a signature to becoming an autonomous element in the composition that makes a sign, and continues with titles influenced by poetry and an exceptionally broad vocabulary.No Author
" Gaston Chaissac "A Man of Letters" in Paris"
''Art Daily''. Accessed June 2015

References

1910 births 1964 deaths 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters Outsider artists {{France-painter-20thC-stub