Biography
Gaston Chaissac (1910-1964) was a French painter and writer, renowned for his unique style and significant contribution to modern art. Born in Avallon, Yonne, he grew up in a modest family. After leaving school in 1923 without obtaining his school-leaving certificate, he worked in a variety of trades, including kitchen boy, hardware store clerk, apprentice butler and groom.
In 1937, in Paris, he met the abstract painter Otto Freundlich and his partner Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss, who encouraged him to explore painting. This meeting marked the beginning of his artistic career. His first works, characterized by naive drawings and interlocking forms in Indian ink, were exhibited at his first solo show in 1938.
In 1942, Chaissac married Camille Guibert, a schoolteacher from Vendée. The couple settled in the Vendée, where he found an environment conducive to his creativity. During this period, he developed a distinctive style, combining bright flat colors and black outlines, often inspired by art brut and folk art. His works, halfway between abstraction and figuration, reflect a constant inventiveness.
Alongside his painting practice, Chaissac maintained a rich correspondence with personalities from the artistic and literary worlds, such as Jean Dubuffet, Raymond Queneau and Jean Paulhan. These epistolary exchanges reflect his reflections on art and society, and form an important part of his literary work.
Despite his geographical isolation, Chaissac took part in several exhibitions, including the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon des Surindépendants. His work gradually gained recognition, influencing artists such as Georg Baselitz and Robert Combas. Today, his works can be found in numerous public collections, including the Musée de l’Abbaye Sainte-Croix in Les Sables-d’Olonne and the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
Gaston Chaissac died in 1964 in La Roche-sur-Yon, leaving behind a rich and singular body of work that continues to inspire and fascinate.
