Georges-henri Pescadère (1915 - 2003) — Embracing Boats, February 1960

Embracing Boats, February 1960
Oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left and on the reverse.
81 x 115 cm.

Georges-Henri Pescadère (1915-2003) – A secretive painter between Paris and the light of the South of France

Georges-Henri Pescadère was born on May 7, 1915, in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Drawn to drawing from a very young age, he entered the École supérieure d'arts appliqués Germain-Pilon at the age of fourteen, where he received a multidisciplinary education combining visual arts, decoration, architecture, and advertising. He then continued his studies at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, in Lucien Simon's studio, while also attending Adolphe Cassandre's classes and working in set design for theater and film. World War II interrupted this trajectory: involved in the Resistance, Pescadère was arrested by the Gestapo in July 1944 and deported to Germany, notably to the Dora concentration camp. He survived the war and, in 1946, returned to civilian life, which he rebuilt by marrying Anne Wemaëre. Two sons were born from this union, Marc in 1947 and Roch in 1949. That same year, he founded the company "Alliance d'Arts Graphiques," working as a graphic designer and advertising professional for nearly three decades. From the 1950s onward, Pescadère divided his time between Paris and southeastern France. In Bormes-les-Mimosas, where he acquired a house and studio, and in Curel in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, he found an environment conducive to intimate painting, far removed from social life. He produced a considerable body of work—more than six hundred paintings—which he exhibited very little, claiming to paint out of inner necessity rather than public ambition. His pictorial world unfolds around a few favored themes: the silent streets of 1950s Paris, luminous landscapes of the South of France or the Alps, rigorously composed still lifes, and numerous female nudes. Although influenced by Cézanne and Picasso, whom he had admired since his youth, Pescadère developed a personal style, marked by structure, simplified forms, and a deliberate use of light. He rarely signed his canvases on the front, preferring to annotate the backs, as if he wanted to preserve their intimate character. Georges-Henri Pescadère passed away on November 7, 2003, in Bormes-les-Mimosas. It was only after his death that his work began to reach a wider audience, thanks to several exhibitions and the gradual rediscovery of his studio.

Discover more works by this artist on the gallery's website: https://www.galeriepentcheff.fr/fr/peintre-georges-henri-pescadere