The Large Gavotte - Micheau Vernez - Henriot Quimper Factory - Brittany

Polychrome earthenware, second half of the 20th century.
The piece was created in 1948 and made the cover of the Henriot catalog.

This work will be visible at the Guérande antiques fair from August 9 to 17!

Michau Vernez (1907-1989):
Son of a naval officer, Robert Micheau studied at the Collège Saint-Louis in Brest where he attended evening classes at the School of Fine Arts with the painter Charles Lautrou. From October 1926 to June 1928, he attended classes at the Regional School of Fine Arts in Nantes in the studio of the painter Emile Simon, where he received a medal in June 1927. He was then admitted to the School of Fine Arts in Paris in the studio of the painter Lucien Simon. His studies continued until June 1930. At the same time, he enrolled in classes at the Ateliers d'art sacré of Maurice Denis. In December 1932, he married Lysa-Mina Vernez, herself a medalist at the Fine Arts School of Nantes in June 1929. He now signed his works under the double surname of "Micheau-Vernez." In 1930, René-Yves Creston asked him to join the Seiz-Breur movement, which aimed to create contemporary Breton art. He joined out of solidarity, but participated little in their activities and resigned in June 1946. In November 1930, at the Galerie Saluden in Brest, he exhibited eighteen earthenware pieces, including thirteen plates, in collaboration with the Faïencerie Henriot in Quimper. The immediate success confirmed a thirty-year collaboration with the earthenware factory, with the creation of one hundred and forty sculptures, including several plates. His earthenware works marked Micheau-Vernez's fame. Quickly becoming the trademark of the Faïenceries Henriot de Quimper, his works appeared on the covers of the factory's catalogs. This situation completely overshadowed his pictorial work. A large decorative panel on earthenware tiles, created in 1950, can be seen in the lobby of the Quimper SNCF train station. A large piece representing a Bigouden woman in antique costume was given to General De Gaulle by the inhabitants of the island of Sein, during his visit on June 12, 1949. It was installed in his office until 1958. The art critic André Parinaud, director of the monthly Galerie des Arts, wrote of him: "There is little existence more discreet, more secret in simplicity than that of this artist and work more dazzling with color, sunshine, and youth. The former student of Maurice Denis has learned the lesson of the Nabis, the intangible purity of the artistic gesture, modesty in every approach."