Jean-Pierre Cassigneul

Jean-Pierre Cassigneul (b. 1935) studied at the Académie Charpentier in 1954 where he was taught by the influential French figurative painter Jean Souverbie (1891-1981). Souverbie had been closely associated with the Post-Impressionists, Maurice Denis (1870-1943), Paul Sérusier (1864-1927), Édouard Vuillard (1868-1940) and Félix Vallotton (1865-1925) at the Académie Renon. It was under the influence of Souverbie at the Académie Charpentier that Cassigneul founded his technique and approach to painting. After working at the studio of the French painter and illustrator Roger Chapelain-Midy (1904-1992) in 1955, Cassigneul exhibited at the Galerie des Beaux-Arts in Paris before being named a member of the Salon d'Automne in 1959. In 1963 Cassigneul exhibited at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture alongside French painters Bernard Buffet (1928-1999) and André Minaux (1923-1986).

 

After a number of successful exhibitions in Paris, Cassigneul met the influential American art dealer Wally Findlay Jr. whilst exhibiting at the Vital Gallery in Paris in 1968. It was Findlay Jr. who became a major influence in expanding the market for Cassigneul outside of Europe. Cassigneul exhibited at the Wally Findlay Gallery in Palm Beach and New York in 1970, during which, Cassigneul made his first trip to Japan where he was the subject of a major solo exhibition at the Mitsukoshi Gallery in Tokyo.

 

Building on his success in Europe, Cassigneul's practice expanded from painting to lithography and tapestries, making his work more accessible to an expanding audience. Exhibiting both his lithographs and painting throughout the 1980s and 1990s Cassigneul underlined the significance of his work in the landscape of Modern art.

 

Cassigneul's subject matter has remained constant throughout his 60-year career. Cassigneul's popularity has seen him rise to the top of the rankings for the best-selling living French artists in public sales, and in 2010 amongst the top 5 living French artists as outlined by online art market database Artprice.