Jean Picot (1933-2020) French, Giclee. Depicts a beautiful Mediterranean view. Signature in print bottom right. Framed. 

Overall Size: 22 1/2 x 26 in. 

Sight Size: 17 1/4 x 21 in. 

Jean Claude Picot was born in Rouen, France in 1933. As a child he was exposed to the horrors of the Nazis first-hand as his beloved Normandy was devastated in World War II, and escaped into drawing and sketching to deal with the trauma. He aspired to depict life and joie de vivre in direct defiance of the death and hopelessness that Fascism brought, especially after his father was killed during D-Day. He was mostly self-taught, studying very briefly at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rouen before traveling to Paris when he was thirteen to explore other styles. Exposed to the work of the Fauves, particularly Vlaminck, Derain, and Matisse, he developed his own colorful, naive style, and his exuberant canvases caught the eye of an aspiring gallery manager, who gave him his first solo exhibition in 1947, when he was just fourteen years old. His Post-Impressionist works focused on landscapes, cityscapes, festivals, markets, and romantic moments whenever they included people. By the early 1950s he was exhibiting throughout Europe, with annual exhibitions around the world in the 1960s including the United States, Norway, and Australia. He lived part of the year in the south of France, where he was heavily inspired in his later years by the Cote d’Azure with its beaches and boat-filled harbors. Picot actively worked in many media, including oils, acrylic, watercolor, etching, ceramic, and later with serigraphy after gaining representation through Gagosian and Park West Galleries in the early 2000s. Picot passed away in August of 2020 due to complications from COVID-19, but his work remains a favorite of collectors internationally and can be found in countless corporate, private, and public collections worldwide.