JAMES COIGNARD (1925-2008)

Greeting card 1990 Original carborundum etching in 4 colors, signed in pencil and numbered HC 17/99. Size : 18,5 x 14 cm French painter, engraver and sculptor born in Tours, it is through painting and drawing that James Coignard will develop his aesthetic thought. At the end of the 1960s, the artist will particularly exploit the possibilities offered by carborundum engraving. He is an unclassifiable, he touches, experiments, tries, and tirelessly seeks the supports, forms and techniques that allow him to evolve his artistic research. At the beginning of his career, Coignard was assimilated to the realists of the School of Paris. Very quickly, it becomes difficult to stop his work in one of the artistic movements of this second half of the 20th century; but, in view of his work, it is clear that James Coignard belongs fully to his time. In 1948, James Coignard discovered the French Riviera and decided to attend the School of Decorative Arts in Nice. He also received advice from Louis Marchand des Raux, to whom he was close. At first, he was a ceramist. His meeting with Paul Hervieu, a gallery owner in Nice in 1950, was decisive for his career. Coignard exhibited for the first time in Beaulieu-sur-Mer and it was through Paul Hervieu that he met Braque, Matisse and Chagall. In 1958, Coignard stopped practicing ceramics to devote himself to painting. In the 1960s, his career took on an international dimension, particularly in the United States and Sweden. He travels all over the world and tries new techniques such as tapestry and glass sculpture.