Stéphane Delaprée (born 26 October 1956 in
Paris,
France) is a well-known international
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
resident in
Cambodia and is known for his "Happy Painting",
naive painting
Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may b ...
s combining
humour,
poetic, and
realism
Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to:
In the arts
*Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts
Arts movements related to realism include:
*Classical Realism
*Literary realism, a move ...
.
Biography
Cartoons
Between 1970 and 1980, Stef began his artistic career as cartoon illustrator. He mostly worked in
Quebec where he founded
Bambou magazine in
Quebec City. He also worked for
Belgium's ''
Tintin
Tintin or Tin Tin may refer to:
''The Adventures of Tintin''
* ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé
** Tintin (character), a fictional character in the series
** ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (film), 2011, ...
'' magazine and for ''Fripounet'' magazine based in France.
Contemporary Painting
In 1992, while living in
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
, willing to change the medium of artwork, Stef moved to
painting. His brightly colored canvases depict subjects in nature, with pure rounded motifs. Very quickly, he found a very personal style and created what he terms his own painting movement, the Happy Painting, an artistic concept based on
simplicity, very strong colors and “
joie de vivre”.
In 1994, Stef moved to
Cambodia where he made work for
UNICEF,
United Nations Development Programme and
World Food Program. The subjects depicted in his paintings evolved to portray daily life in Cambodia. His personal, very positive vision of the country, just out of
civil war, met immediate commercial success.
Stef is not attached to and does not receive support from any
government, association or artistic group.
In 1997, during the crisis in Cambodia, Stef was amongst the very few foreigners who still believed in the future of the country and stayed there.
The Happy Painting movement influenced a number of Cambodian artists. In a personal letter,
Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, Norodom Sihanouk filmography, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in vari ...
, King of Cambodia, thanked Stef for his precious contribution to Contemporary Art in Cambodia.
In 2008, Stef made a 15-meters
mural for the new
international airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
in
Sihanoukville. In 2008, he represented Cambodia at the second Contemporary Art Exhibition in
Malaysia. Stef’s creations are currently in galleries in Cambodia, Malaysia,
Singapore and
India. Later, for Thai Airways International's 50th anniversary, Stephane Delapree was commissioned to create a 3-meter mural for the TAI 'Cambodia headquarter. In 2009, the Ahuja Museum for Arts, Calcutta, India, organized a solo exhibition with Stephane Delapree's Happy Painting. For the 60 anniversary of Pasteur Institute in Cambodia, Stef was commissioned to create a big size canvas, for the Phnom Penh's Pasteur Institute lobby.
In 2013, Stef was commissioned by the Count de Vanssay to create three huge religious artworks canvases to illuminate the chapel of his 14th century Castel, le château de la Barre, Loiret, France.
In 2014, Stef was going to close his shop in
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...
due to piracy
but later stayed after making a deal with the Foreign Correspondent Club, until April 2016. In 2014, he made his debut in
New York City.
One of the world's biggest Beaujolais nouveau wine producers, the French Georges Duboeuf, commissioned Stef a personal label design for the 59th anniversary of Georges Duboeuf famous Beaujolais Nouveau wine. In 2016, the artist was commissioned 5 huge religious paintings by Spanish Bishop. Stephane Delapree represented two times Cambodia, 2014 and 2016, in the Art Naif Festiwal Katowice, Poland.
Main Individual Exhibitions
Cambodia
*Happy Painting Gallery, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
*Happy Cambodia Art Gallery, Siem Reap, Cambodia, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
*Klick Gallery, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2002
*New Art Gallery, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
*Inter-Continental Hotel’s Art Gallery, 1997, 1998, 1999
*Hotel Raffles Le Royal’s Art Gallery, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 1999, 2000, 2001
* Hotel Sofitel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 1995, 1996, 1997
*Cambodiana Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
*Princess Angkor Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia, 2003
*Apsara Angkor Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia, 2002, 2003
*Angkor Century Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
Malaysia
*Heng Masterpieces Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2008, 2009
*International Contemporary Art Expo Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2008
Singapore
*Gnani Arts Gallery, Singapore, 2009
Laos
*MB Art Gallery in Vientiane, Laos, 2006
India
*Ahuja Museum for Arts, Calcutta, India, (permanent exhibition).
Notes and references
*«Le monde est petit, c'est pourquoi il est fantastique», interview of Stéphane Delaprée by Gilles Angers, page E-9, in Le Soleil (section Crayons de Soleil), mercredi 20 novembre 1985, Québec;
*Canuck comics, a Guide to Comic Books Published in Canada, 1986, John Bell, Luc Pomerleau et Robert MacMillan, éditions Matrix Books, Montréal;
*«La bande dessinée au Québec», 1994, Mira Falardeau, éditions du Boréal, collection Boréal Express, Montréal;
*«Bande dessinée québécoise» : répertoire bibliographique à suivre, 1996, Bernard Dubois, éditions D.B.K., Sillery;
*«BDQ, Répertoire des publications de bandes dessinées au Québec des origines à nos jours», 1999, Michel Viau, éditions Mille-Îles, Laval;
*«Histoire de la bande dessinée au Québec», 2008,
Mira Falardeau
Mira Falardeau (born 1948) is a French Canadian historian, professor, and author of comic strips (French: ''bande dessinée'', BD). Falardeau has devoted works to Québec animated films, Québec comic strips and caricatures in Québec, focusing ...
, VLB éditeur, collection Études québécoises, Montréal.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delapree, Stephane
20th-century Canadian painters
Canadian male painters
21st-century Canadian painters
Living people
1956 births
Artists from Paris
Artists from Quebec City
Université du Québec alumni
Canadian people of French descent
Université de Montréal alumni
20th-century Canadian male artists
21st-century Canadian male artists