![Ile d'Yeu Port Joinv été 96 - Copie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Ile_d%27Yeu_Port_Joinv_%C3%A9t%C3%A9_96_-_Copie.jpg)
Jean Rigaud (15 June 1912 – 7 February 1999) was a well-listed French painter, closely associated to the
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
.
Early life
He was born on 15 June 1912 in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
, France to the well-known painter,
Pierre Gaston Rigaud (1874–1939). The Rigaud family moved to the village of Guyenne in 1914, shortly after World War I began. It was during this time that Jean Rigaud received his first formal training under his father, Pierre Gaston, who was also a well-respected teacher. During this time, Jean was encouraged to develop his own style and talents, which utilized "pure color tones (ochres, yellows and red cadmium) which
toodout triumphantly against grey skies."
In 1925 Jean Rigaud was invited to exhibit his works at the ''Salon d'Art Ancien Espagnol'' in Paris, where he became a regular. Jean also continued his formal education at the
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...
in Paris at the ''Atelier André Dewambez''. While at the ''Atelier'', Jean Rigaud began to develop his unique
impressionistic
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
style and techniques. He also began painting marine subjects for which he became known. However, this did not mean that he did not paint other scenes. As "a painter of instinct", who focused on scenery, villages and abodes were not out of the realm. Examples of these works include "Tolede: Contre Jour" a 28 ¾" x 19 ¾" oil on canvas painting "L'Isle Adam", and "Ker Guerin, Île d'Yeu." However, according to a brief biography by ''Banks Fine Art'', Rigaud "saved little room for precise depictions of the human figure in his works."
From 1938 to 1976, Jean Rigaud participated in 53 one-man exhibitions, including at the
Galerie Durand-Ruel in which he was featured every other year from 1956 to 1974. Furthermore, as a tribute, The Galerie Durand Ruel featured Rigaud's work in their final exhibition as a "Grand Finale."
During his lifetime, Jean Rigaud was invited to exhibit his work at all of the leading Paris Salons, which included the
Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts
Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; en, National Society of Fine Arts) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions.
1862
Es ...
,
Salon "Comparaisons"
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
, ''Salon du Dessin et de la Peinture a l'eau'' and the ''Salon de la Marine''. Rigaud also exhibited his works in
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, and
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
. He also received a Gold Medal at The International Exhibition in Paris in 1937, the Prize of Messageries Maritimes in 1952, the Prize of Morocco in 1953, and the Prize of
Charles Cottet
Charles Cottet (12 July 1863 – 20 September 1925) was a French painter, born at Le Puy-en-Velay and died in Paris. A famed post-impressionist, Cottet is known for his dark, evocative painting of rural Brittany and seascapes. He led a scho ...
in 1957 as well as "Painter of the French Navy" honors in 1956.
Jean Rigaud's works are featured in many private and public collections across the world. His paintings are also permanently exhibited at the
National Museum
A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...
in Paris,
Musée de la Marine, Musée de Niort, Musée de
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
, Musée de Poitiers, Musée Mulhouse, Musée Chalet, Musée Pontoise, and Musée
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
. Jean Rigaud is also well listed in over a dozen prestigious books on art.
Jean Rigaud died in 1999 in Paris, and immediately after his death, the Musée national de la Marine mounted a one-man retrospective of his work, which was met with great critical acclaim.
"Jean Rigaud is placed without doubt in the great tradition of realist and
impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
."
His friends
Among his colleagues, his closest friends were
Louis Vuillermoz Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis (d ...
,
Daniel du Janerand
Daniel du Janerand (18 July 1919 – 19 July 1990) was a French painter, muralist, and book illustrator.
Artistic life
He was born in the "Marais", center of Paris, on 18 July 1919. He studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Ar ...
and chiefly
Maurice Boitel
Maurice Boitel (July 31, 1919 – August 11, 2007) was a French painter.
Artistic life
Boitel belonged to the art movement called "La Jeune Peinture" ("Young Picture") of the School of Paris,The School of Paris (1945–1965) by Lydia Harambourg. ...
whom he brought in car for painting to
Yport
Yport () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. The residents are known as Yportais or Yportaises.
Location
Yport is located on the D104 road, about north of Le Havre, on the coast of the Engl ...
(
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
), into
Ile de Sein
Ile may refer to:
* iLe, a Puerto Rican singer
* Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places
* Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria
* Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language
* Isoleucine, an amino acid
* Another ...
(
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
), and whom he convinced to come and paint in
Yeu island.
References
# Jean Rigaud. La Galerie Du Chateau. http://www.dicart-net.fr/PHOTOS/RIGAUD/Amg0000.htm
# Jean Rigaud. La Galerie Du Chateau. http://www.dicart-net.fr/PHOTOS/RIGAUD/Amg0000.htm
Sources
* Jean Rigaud. Banks Fine Art. 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060826194233/http://www.banksfineart.com/html/Detail.asp?WorkInvNum=161&whatpage=artist
* Jean Rigaud. La Galerie Du Chateau. http://www.dicart-net.fr/PHOTOS/RIGAUD/Amg0000.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigaud, Jean
1912 births
1999 deaths
20th-century French painters
20th-century French male artists
French male painters
Peintres de la Marine