Pierre Boncompain (2011)

Pierre Boncompain

Pierre Boncompain FRANKLIN BOWLES GALLERIES S a n

F r a n c i s c o

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N e w

Yo r k

As many of you know, I followed the European career of the talented French artist, Pierre Boncompain, with great interest for decades before gaining the opportunity to become his exclusive representative in the United States. It now gives me great pleasure to report that our first year of representing this remarkable artist has been truly extraordinary—one of the most successful launches of a new artist program in our Galleries’ history.

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Méditation aux citrons pastel on paper 16 x 13 inches

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Les coloquintes et le potimarron oil on canvas 18 x 21.5 inches

This enthusiastic response to Boncompain’s work by the friends and clients of Franklin Bowles Galleries will be no surprise to those familiar with the artist’s many accomplishments. A graduate of both the National Decorative Arts Institute and the National Institute of Fine Arts of Paris, Boncompain was an early recipient of the Council of Drome Prize as well as the prestigious Collioure Prize. Over the years that followed he went on to build a strong international reputation as one of the most promising post-School-of-Paris artists, with major exhibitions and retrospectives in Paris, Lausanne, London, Milan, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Beijing, and Shanghai.

Boncompain’s aesthetic is a quintessentially modernist one, arising naturally from his passionate admiration for such earlier French masters as Pierre Bonnard, Paul Cezanne, and Henri Matisse. This is especially evident in his landscapes, with their dense, structured, and simplified rendering of the rolling hills and lavender tones of the Provençal countryside, as well as in his intense preoccupation with the sun, revealed in the vivid yellows of his wheat fields. Boncompain delights in the bold and vibrant reds, purples, terracottas, blues, and brilliant yellows favored by Gauguin and Van Gogh. Gauguin’s work especially comes to mind when we view his nudes. Despite Boncompain’s seductive rendering of the female form, each nude seems oblivious to either artist or viewer, often laying with eyes averted or closed, engrossed in sunbathing or deep in slumber. Other times women are sitting in terrace or garden settings before tables covered by brilliantly colored cloths with bold patterns—a still life within a still life. These gentle, sensuous women seldom if ever touch the luscious fruits before them. Instead they remain motionless, as if absorbed in reverie, suspended like Vermeer’s women in an eternal moment.

The simplicity and lyricism of their body curves only adds to the sensation, reminding us of Matisse. These sinuous curves appear in virtually all of the many media that Boncompain has mastered: painting, pastel on paper on paper, print-making, book illustration, tapestry, and ceramics. This versatility gives Boncompain a breadth of technique that one seldom finds in contemporary artists.

During his long and prolific career, Pierre Boncompain has absorbed many sources and strands of influence, fusing them into a synthesis that is uniquely his own. When we view a Boncompain painting, we sense the resonance of the past gently pulsating through a vision that is intensely personal and new. We are transported beyond our immediate world by a lyrical style that both venerates eternal summer and evokes day-to-day life in the artist’s beloved Provence. I have found that it is a journey well worth taking.

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PensĂŠes et coloquinte oil on canvas 18 x 21.5 inches

Pensive aux pensĂŠes pastel on paper 18 x 15 inches

RIGHT

Nu d'ĂŠtĂŠ au jardin pastel on paper 21.5 x 15 inches

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7 OPPOSITE

Nu Vallauris pastel on paper 38 x 49 inches

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ABOVE : LEFT:

Nappe bleue et citrons oil on canvas 19 x 15 inches

La ceinture jaune sur le lit bleu oil on canvas 35 x 51 inches

LEFT

La fenĂŞtre sur les vignes pastel on paper 18 x 13 inches

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11 OPPOSITE

Jaune tulipes au coeur noir oil on canvas 58 x 52.5 inches

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Le gilet bleu oil on canvas 45.5 x 32 inches

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13 OPPOSITE

Le pantalon rouge oil on canvas 28.5 x 36 inches

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ABOVE : OPPOSITE :

Jeune fille ĂŠtendue pastel on paper 13 x 18 inches Nu au drap brodĂŠ pastel on paper 15 x 18 inches

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Au bord du lit pastel on paper 21.5 x 18 inches

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17 OPPOSITE

Sommeil bleu pastel on paper 18 x 21.5 inches

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Intérieur aux pensées

Batiks rouges à la fougère

oil on canvas

pastel on paper

39.5 x 32 inches

21.5 x 18 inches

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RIGHT

La couverture LĂŠopard oil on canvas 45.5 x 32 inches

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21 OPPOSITE

Nature morte au foulard oil on canvas 18 x 21.5 inches

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ABOVE : OPPOSITE :

RĂŞve bleu pastel on paper 15 x 21.5 inches

La promenade au phare oil on canvas 45 x 57.5 inches

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Nu aux jambes levées pastel on paper 18 x 15 inches

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25 OPPOSITE

Le bonheur d'être allongée pastel on paper 15 x 18 inches

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ABOVE : OPPOSITE :

La nappe de Bali oil on canvas 15 x 21.5 inches

Terrasse aux aubergines pastel on paper 34.5 x 42 inches

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Nu à la couverture à carreaux pastel on paper 39.5 x 32 inches

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29 OPPOSITE

Le fauteuil à bascule pastel on paper 15 x 18 inches

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La robe berlingot oil on canvas 59 x 19.5 inches

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La chaise longue pastel on paper 22 x 15 inches

OPPOSITE

Le vase persan oil on canvas 32 x 39.5 inches

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Lavandes en Provence

Les platanes

pastel on paper

oil on canvas

21.5 x 15 inches

45.5 x 35 inches

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LEFT

Pensive aux pensées oil on canvas 36 x 29 inches

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35 OPPOSITE

La jardinière aux pensées oil on canvas 15 x 21.5 inches

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Lecture au canapĂŠ oil on canvas 10.5 x 14 inches CanapĂŠ jaune pastel on paper 13 x 18 inches

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La brésilienne au châle jaune pastel on paper 21.5 x 18 inches

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39 OPPOSITE

Terrasse d'été pastel on paper 35 x 42.5 inches

Nageuse d'été

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oil on canvas 57.5 x 45 inches

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RIGHT

Nu au batik jaune oil on canvas 36 x 25.5 inches

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43 OPPOSITE

Nu au tapis oil on canvas 45 x 57.5 inches

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Colette et Lolita

Colette et Mo誰ra

pastel on paper

oil on canvas

18 x 13 inches

39 x 32 inches

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ABOVE :

Le plat de citrons oil on canvas 13 x 16 inches

OPPOSITE :

L'arbre de vie oil on canvas 35 x 45.5 inches

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ABOVE :

Robe rose à la chaise longue oil on canvas 28.5 x 39.5 inches

OPPOSITE :

Nu à la chaise longue oil on canvas 31.5 x 39 inches

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Le gilet jaune devant la console

Le T-shirt jaune

pastel on paper

oil on canvas

39.5 x 32 inches

36 x 25.5 inches

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Nu Ă la feuille de figuier oil on canvas 45.5 x 35 inches

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53 OPPOSITE

Le plat de figues oil on canvas 15 x 18 inches

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Le coin d’ombre

MoĂŻra sur le fauteuil

oil on canvas

oil on canvas

46 x 35 inches

14 x 10.5 inches

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La ceinture jaune

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oil on canvas 38 x 51 inches

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RIGHT

Le casaquin violet oil on canvas 57.5 x 45 inches

OPPOSITE LEFT

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Le pantalon multicolore oil on canvas 18 x 15 inches

OPPOSITE FAR LEFT

Le corsage multicolore oil on canvas 18 x 13 inches

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LEFT

La robe rouge de Bali oil on canvas 21.5 x 13 inches

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61 OPPOSITE

Lavandes en Baronnies oil on canvas 51 x 63.5 inches

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ABOVE : OPPOSITE :

Nu nacrĂŠ pastel on paper 15 x 18 inches

La robe bleue pastel on paper 18 x 21.5 inches

LEFT

Nu à l'oiseau pastel on paper 21.5 x 18 inches

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65 OPPOSITE

Sommeil au canapé pastel on paper 18 x 21.5 inches

LEFT

Le melon d'Espagne oil on canvas 59 x 19.5 inches

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67 OPPOSITE

Derrière le bouquet oil on canvas 28.5 x 36 inches

Index Au bord du lit Batiks rouges à la fougère Canapé jaune Colette et Lolita Colette et Moïra Derrière le bouquet Intérieur aux pensées Jaune tulipes au coeur noir Jeune fille étendue La brésilienne au châle jaune La ceinture jaune La ceinture jaune sur le lit bleu La chaise longue La couverture Léopard La fenêtre sur les vignes La jardinière aux pensées La nappe de Bali La promenade au phare La robe berlingot La robe bleue La robe rose La robe rouge de Bali L'arbre de vie Lavandes en Baronnies Lavandes en Provence Le bonheur d'être allongée Le casaquin violet Le coin d'ombre Le corsage multicolore Le fauteuil à bascule Le gilet bleu Le gilet jaune devant la console Le melon d'Espagne Le pantalon multicolore Le pantalon rouge

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OPPOSITE :

PROJECT

Le plat de citrons Le plat de figues Le T-shirt jaune Le vase persan Lecture au canapé Lecture au fauteuil Régence Les coloquintes et le potimarron Les platanes Les vignes en Provance Méditation aux citrons Moïra sur le fauteuil Nageuse d'été Nappe bleue et citrons Nature morte au foulard Nu à la chaise longue Nu à la couverture à carreaux Nu à la feuille de figuier Nu à l'oiseau Nu au batik jaune Nu au drap brodé Nu au tapis Nu aux jambes levées Nu d'été au jardin Nu nacré Nu Vallauris Pensées et coloquinte Pensive aux pensées (oil on canvas) Pensive aux pensées (pastel on paper) Rêve bleu Robe rose à la chaise longue Sommeil au canapé Sommeil bleu Terrasse aux aubergines Terrasse d'été

Les vignes en Provance oil on canvas 55 x 67.5 inches Lecture au fauteuil Régence oil on canvas 28.5 x 36 inches MANAGERS : Stacey Bellis & Matt Geary / CATALOG DESIGN : D. Lee Myers

BACK COVER :

La robe rose oil on canvas 35.5 x 12 inches

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$40.00

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765 Beach Street San Francisco CA 94109 800.926.9535 / 415.441.8008 431 West Broadway Ne w York NY 10012 800.926.9537 / 212.226.1616 www.franklinbowlesgaller y.com