An Artist's Life

Jacques Fromonot, a self-taught French painter, abandoned his engineering career to dedicate himself to painting. Over his seventy-year career, he created a unique body of work inspired by his travels around the world.
un peintre en chemise blanche, assis devant ses tableaux, l'air pensif

Artistic Approach

Born in France, Jacques Fromonot (1926-2014) committed himself to painting in his early twenties, abandoning his post as an engineer in Lyon to resist "systemization and routine - the greatest enemy for a creative spirit." Entirely self-taught, he developed a singular body of work over the next seventy years, drawing primarily on his observations of a less ordinary life that took him from France to the jungles and urban sprawls of Latin America, the exotic homeland of his Indian wife Nina, and finally to the Côte d'Azur where he settled permanently during the electric summer of 1968.

Fromonot developed technical proficiency and a distinctive style. His dynamic compositions are characterized by the use of his palette knife as much as his brush, creating richly structured surfaces in luminous colors that seem negotiated by light - an effect often likened to the radiance of stained glass windows, earning him the title "O Caçador de Luz" (the hunter of light) in Brazil.

Though he never adhered to any particular school or movement, he had an avid curiosity about art as a record of different cultures. His choice of subjects evokes a perpetual inner dialogue between the artist's cerebral and intuitive sides, moving from intimate observations of everyday life to methodical studies of ancient civilizations and a critical appraisal of his era.

The intense yearning for a pure, broad experience of life led him to extraordinary adventures that inspired his body of work. He captured the unique quality of light and life in Brazil, the jewel colors of India, and the visceral quality of events and encounters experienced as a participant rather than an observer.

Exhibitions and Major Works

Many of his paintings were sold or traded along the way, widely exhibited in galleries throughout Latin America (Buenos Aires, Lima, Montevideo, as well as the São Paulo Biennale), and later in Mexico City, France, London, Munich, Spoleto, and New Delhi. In 1961, Fromonot received the first prize from the Grand Prix de Paris at the Salon d'Art Moderne, as well as the second prize at the Grand Prix de la Peinture in the Côte d'Azur in 1966.

In the late sixties, he produced a remarkable series on Indian folklore and traditions for a private collector. He was commissioned to paint the portraits of Prime Minister Nehru (who posed for him) and the leaders of India’s Independence movement. These were exhibited in London in 1962 at the Royal Society of Arts under the title "Aspects of India," inaugurated by Pandit Nehru and Indira Gandhi in the presence of the artist. Other important series have been acquired by an American collector, an Italian countess and philanthropist, an American art dealer, and a French collector.

He spent time with Camus in Rio, Cocteau in Villefranche-sur-Mer, frequented Pablo Picasso and other artists in Vallauris and Golfe-Juan, met with Dali, and socialized with many celebrities in Cannes - including Brigitte Bardot, whose portrait he painted in Saint-Tropez.

Later Life

In his later years, he retired to the countryside, living between Mallorca and Cannes, to escape what he saw as the materialism of consumer society and speculation around art. Although he refused to exhibit publicly, he worked until the very end and left behind a substantial legacy comprising some four hundred oils on canvas and board, as well as numerous drawings and notebooks.

These works have been photographed by his widow, Nina Fromonot, who has organized them by style and period, but they need to be seen to understand the rich colors, depth, and brushstrokes that the images fail to convey.

Exhibitions & Awards

Diplome du 2e Grand Prix de la Cote d’Azur
France, 1966
Galerie Schmith
Metz, France, 1965
Galerie des Etats-Unis-Stoliar
Cannes, France, 1965
Galerie Insurgentes
Mexico City, Mexico, 1965
Lima
1964
Galerie Nagasawa
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1963
Diplome du XVI Grand Prix International
Deauville, France, 1963
Galerie Madrid
Spain, 1963
Galerie Rauch
Monte Carlo, France, 1963
Grand Prix International, Salon Bosio
Monte Carlo, France, 1962
Royal Society of Arts
London 1962
New Delhi
1961
Diplome 1ere Place du Grand Prix de Paris
Salon d’Art Moderne, 1961
Salon d’Automne
Paris, France, 1961
Galerie 113
Cannes, France, 1961
Galerie Longchamps
Nice, France, 1960
Salon des Artistes Indépendants
Paris, France, 1960
Galerie Nagasawa
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1959
Maison de l’Amérique Latine
Deauville, France, 1959
Salon d’Automne
Paris, France, 1959
Galerie Bahia
Brazil, 1958
Galerie Montmartre
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1958
Galerie Itapitininga
Sao Paolo, 1958
Sao Paolo Biennale
Brazil, 1957
Galerie Riel
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1957
Brasilia
1957
Maison de France
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1957
Galerie Copacabana
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1957
Galerie Kim
Santiago de Chile, Chile, 1956
Galerie Nagasawa
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1956
Progress 5 - Jacques Fromonot
A50
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Progress 2, Oil on board - Jacques Fromonot
A47
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Drilling for Oil - Jacques Fromonot
A31
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Slice of melon - Jacques Fromonot
NM1
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A coffee grinder - Jacques Fromonot
NM12
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NM17
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God Inca - Jacques Fromonot
C75
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Logarithmic Construction - Jacques Fromonot
C29
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Equilibrium of masses - Jacques Fromonot
C66
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Village in Amazon - Jacques Fromonot
B58
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B40
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Favéla - Brazil - Jacques Fromonot
B59
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Dancing Girl - Jacques Fromonot
E4
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Sea-Shell - Jacques Fromonot
E3
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Wasp - Jacques Fromonot
E8
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Snake Charmers - Jacques Fromonot
D6
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Delhi - Jacques Fromonot
D17
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Kerela - Jacques Fromonot
D10
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Flowers Cannes - Jacques Fromonot
F12
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Flowers France - Jacques Fromonot
F14
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Flowers France - Jacques Fromonot
F42
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Noahs's Ark - Jacques Fromonot
AN1
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Long beaked bird - Jacques Fromonot
AN7
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Swan Lake - Jacques Fromonot
AN13
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Freedil for birds, kittens imprisoned - Jacques Fromonot
JFF18
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Girl with flowers in blue at the window - Jacques Fromonot
JFF8
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Girl with flowers sitting - Jacques Fromonot
JFF5
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On a bed of nails - Jacques Fromonot
JN7
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Under the moonlight - Jacques Fromonot
JN8
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The lovers - Jacques Fromonot
JN15
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Autumn - Jacques Fromonot
P86
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Inspired from Villefranche sur Mer - Jacques Fromonot
P78
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The Camargue - Jacques Fromonot
P67
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Taken Aback - Jacques Fromonot
O26
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Girl with elongated neck - Jacques Fromonot
O27
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Girl in a room with bird cages - Jacques Fromonot
O40
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