After 20 years absence from the New York art scene, Opera Gallery is honored to present a special exhibition of André Brasilier's unique paintings at the gallery’s prime New York location on Madison Avenue from October 12th until November 12th. The 88-year old, internationally acclaimed, French artist has noticed a recent boom in recognition with prices for works increasing by 20% on the open market in the last 2 years.This major exhibition will unveil 40 recent works alongside 10 retrospective works from his exceptional private collection: The exhibition will be a true celebration of 66 years of painting. Though Brasilier’s paintings flirt with Expressionism, Abstraction and even the Japanese print art form Edo; this perennial artist has continued to explore many genres whilst remaining true to his personally developed manner, technique and idiosyncratic passions.
The exhibition will reflect the artist’s signature themes, drawing inspiration from, and offering communion with Mother Nature.The equestrian world also features strongly within the artist oeuvre. Brasilier’s Horses are full of zeal and fervor, a metaphor for a life lived with vitality. It is however his wife Chantal that Brasilier credits as his ultimate and infinite source of inspiration. These are paintings that exude a love of live and a life of love. To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, Opera Gallery New York will host a private reception at 791 Madison Avenue on Thursday, October 12th from 6:00pm to 8:30pm. The show will be open to the public until Sunday, November 12th.
André Brasilier was born into an artistic family in Saumur, France. His father, Jacques Brasilier, was closely affiliated with the Symbolist movement, joining the studio of the celebrated Alphonse Mucha. His mother, Alice Chaumont, was a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London. At the age of twenty, André Brasilier went to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1952 he received a grant from the Florence Blumenthal Foundation, and in the following year, when he was only 23, won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome, entitling him to study at the Académie de France in Rome. His first solo exhibition of paintings, focusing on music, was held at the Galerie Drouet in 1959. Over the years Brasilier has exhibited in numerous exhibitions all over the world including France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Russia, The Netherlands, Korea and Hong Kong - over one hundred solo exhibitions in twenty different countries. His travels have inspired several series of paintings, as well as ceramics, mosaics, theatrical sets and book illustrations. He had his first retrospective of one hundred artworks from 1950 -1980 at the Château de Chenonceau in 1980, and a retrospective exhibition at the Musée Picasso - Château Grimaldi in Antibes, the French Riviera, in 1988.He has since been honoured with major retrospectives both at Russia’s renowned State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg in 2005 and at the Museum Haus Ludwig für Kunstausstellungen Saarlouis in Germany in 2007. Across the globe and for the last five years, we’ve been the witnesses to a revival in the appreciation of Brasilier’s work.