Artist : Edouard RIGHETTI (1924-2001)

Title :  Snow in Viroflay

Technical and support: Lithograph on Japanese paper

Features of the work: Original signed print lower right by hand by the artist. Prints annotated artist's proof 2/4 (artist's proofs - Hors Commerce) are original works printed in addition to the numbered edition and never exceed 10% of the numbered edition. They are intended for the artist for his personal collection or for the master printer to thank him for the quality of the work carried out. 

Dimensions: 40 x 30 cm (66 x 51 cm with margins) 

State : Good, slightly wrinkled edges, which will be almost invisible when framing

Origin : Certified origin, the invoice engages the responsibility of the gallery as to the Authenticity of the work.

Expert's comment:  The artist is a colorist like robert savary, he likes to paint the beauty of nature (Landscapes, animals, flowers, trees…) but he incorporates a little of his calm and melancholy character without ever being sad. She palette has a lot to do with it, he adds a slight touch of black to each color to darken it a little, which gives his subjects this very special expressiveness. We can undoubtedly see the influence of his master Edouard Goerg, himself a pupil of Maurice Denis and Paul Sérusier. The artist paints according to his travels in France (the South, Normandy, Brittany, Haute Savoie, Corsica…) and abroad (Italy, Holland and Spain). He is also interested in the Paris region where he works but he has a particular fondness for Menton, of which he will paint all the views (the artist's house, the port, the beach, the old town, the gardens, the monuments…). A fervent participant in the city's music festival, Edouard Righetti repeatedly represented the musicians in front of the Saint-Michel basilica. He will also paint the famous lemon festival, the carnival of Menton. In a context where abstract art is predominant, the artist sometimes seems to be tempted by adventure and sometimes moves away from reality, approaching the style of charles lapicque while maintaining this characteristic color palette. When the touch is lighter, his figurative style is reminiscent of that of guy bardone, another artist from the new school of Paris known as “young painting”. Edouard Righetti is a talented painter also known for his prints and in particular his still lifes, but his landscape paintings on paper are of undeniable quality. They provide the viewer with the feeling of discovering sometimes hidden and intimate places that demonstrate the artist's attachment to the beauties of our beautiful country.

Biography of the artist: Of Swiss origin, Born in Menton, the artist comes from a family of fresco painters who have lived in the Alpes-Maritimes since the 19th century. Influenced at a very young age by this artistic environment, he likes to tell how he sold his first painting. His father returning from the market then places the tomatoes in front of the soup tureen and Edouard borrows his father's colors to create a beautiful still life which will be sold in an exhibition to an American collector. It was in 1941 that he fled Menton for the eastern Pyrenees and studied at the Beaux-Arts in Montpellier the same year. From 1942 to 1946, he joined the School of Decorative Arts in Nice where he won the Ziem prize for painting and met the painter and engraver Jules Henri Lengrand. In 1950, his life was difficult: he lived in miserable housing, he was poorly paid and became a colony monitor for two months on the Ile d'Oléron. In 1947, he joined Edouard Goerg's studio to learn printmaking techniques. The same year, he entered the Beaux-Arts in Paris. During his free time, he likes to bite the animals of the zoo. Between 1951 and 1953, he lived on rue du bac in Paris and the winter was so cold there that he burned more than 200 crumpled drawings in a ball. In addition, he scratches his canvases to create new compositions. In 1952 and 1953, he made several trips to the Channel coast and to Normandy in Dieppe, Étretat and the Chausey Islands. In 1953 he traveled to Rome, Florence and Pisa. That same year, he recreated the life-size frescoes of Lascaux and Altamira, under the patronage of Abbé Breuil, for the exhibition 40,000 Years of Modern Art at the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris. When he left Edouard Goerg's studio in 1954, he had already made many oils, drawings, watercolors, around 200 engravings (aquatints, etchings, drypoints, burins) and decided to settle in Fontenay-sous -Wood. He married Andrée Saunier, a talented naive painter. The same year, he made a stay in Corsica where he composed studies of peasants, animals and landscapes. In 1954, he received a scholarship from the Maison Descartes in Amsterdam for the year 1955 allowing him to stay ten months in Amsterdam with his wife. On his return from Amsterdam in 1955, he set up a press in Fontenay-sous-Bois on which he made the majority of the trial prints and artists' proofs. From 1956 to 1957, he became a resident at the Casa Velásquez for two years (27th Fine Arts class) for his work at the 40,000 Years of Modern Art exhibition. His friend Jacques Reverchon was in the 26th Beaux-Arts class. In 1958, he returned to Fontenay-sous-Bois, where he painted and engraved the sadness of the suburbs. In 1959, he moved to Sannois with his family. He took part in the Salon du Trait in 1958, 1959 and from 1961 to 1965. In 1961, he received the Eugène Carrière prize. In 1963, he became a member of the Society of Painters, Engravers and Independent Lithographers. In 1964, he participated in the 47th exhibition of French Painters-Engravers. In May of the same year, he left Sannois and moved to Paris in his studio at n°5 rue Léon-Dierx. In 1968, he took part in the 46th Trait exhibition. On May 1, 1991, Edouard Righetti takes part in the program À l'heure du pop on France Inter. On November 13, 1993, he participated in the program L'art et la manner on Radio Bleue. In 1998, he received the first prize for animal artist. He died in December 2001, and on December 20, 2001, José Artur in his program Le Pop-Club on France Inter presented an obituary introduction to Righetti: Édouard Righetti was a "great talent engraver", an "exceptional being", "extraordinary he had a "colossal technique" with a "richness of colors", he was also a friend of Caesar. A program of the Pop-Club is dedicated to him on March 19 Mars 2002. 

During his career, the snapshot of many prizes including the prestigious Casa Velasquez Prize. He participates in numerous salons and personal and collective exhibitions in France and in Le Monde. His works are present in many museums in France and abroad.

This description has been drawn up by us following our expertise and the various reference works on the artist in our possession, any copy is therefore prohibited.