Nationality French Role Artist | Name Raymond Besse Known for Painting | |
Born 1899 Niort, France Died 1969, Cande-sur-Beuvron, France Artwork Rue St-Vinvent, Montmartre, Le Pont Neuf, Paris | ||
Raymond Besse (1899–1969) was a French artist.
Biography
Raymond Besse was born in Niort, Deux-Sevres on December 26, 1899. He spent his childhood in the Berry province of France.
Raymond Besse arrived in Paris in 1916. He exhibited for the first time in the Salon des Independants in 1923. He then continued to exhibit his works in many other exhibitions and salons, among them the Salon d'Automne. Raymond Besse's favorite topic was Paris. He loved to illustrate the life in and around the capital city, especially in the northern areas of Saint-Ouen, Montmartre, Clichy and around the Canal Saint-Martin.
Raymond Besse's themes of blue-collar Paris neighborhoods, associated to gloomy snowy weather make his artworks often dark and sad and as a result disregarded by many. Those paintings give a perfect picture of the life in the suburbs of Paris during the first part of the 20th century, far from the idyllic and colorful pictures left by artists like Edouard Cortes (1882–1969), Antoine Blanchard (1910–1988) and Eugene Galien-Laloue (1854–1941).
The artist also painted many works about Normandy, villages in the Yonne area, and landscapes around Moret-sur-Loing. Raymond Besse finally moved to the Loire area at the end of his life, and he died in Cande-sur-Beuvron, Loir-et-Cher on March 5, 1969.