CLAUDE VENARD (FRENCH, 1913-1999)
Pot noir
signed 'C. Venard' (lower left)
oil on canvas
41 x 33 cm. (16 1/4 x 13 in.)
Painted circa 1960s

Provenance
Sale; Phillips, London, 27 June 1994, lot 84, where purchased by the present owner

Post-Cubist painter Claude Venard was born into a Burgundian family in 1913. Taking evening painting classes at the age of 17 and then working as a restorer for the Louvre at the age of 23 due to financial pressures, his training in the arts was tremendously enhanced. In 1938, his work was exhibited in Paris alongside other artists within the 'Forces Nouvelles' group.

Venard initially followed and contributed to the Forces Novelle group's rigorous disciplines. But like many of his members, he soon gave it up in search for his own individual expression.

Throughout his career and throughout his life, Venard held numerous successful displays of his work. He exhibited many one-man shows in Paris, throughout France and in the United States.

A prolific painter, Venard had a preference for still-life and cityscapes which he delivered in a spatial, quasi-abstract yet always faithfully post-cubist style. The present example showcases this geomentric composition, with strong lines and thick impasto.