Jean Capdeville (1917 - 2011) Riviere C.1963/1964

Jean Capdeville (1917–2012) was a French painter associated with the evolution of abstract and lyrical painting in France during the second half of the 20th century. Trained in the post-war period, he developed early on a personal pictorial approach centered on matter, light, and space, which placed him within the dialogue between abstraction and landscape. His work is characterized by a sensitive and poetic pictorial style, where forms seem to emerge from broad fields of color and fluid gestures. Throughout his career, Capdeville explored different series that testify to his attachment to the natural world and a meditative approach to painting. Among the important periods of his work is the so-called “Rivers” series, created primarily between 1960 and 1967. In this series, the artist drew inspiration from the movement of water and river landscapes to create compositions where the fluidity of the gesture and the variations in texture evoke natural currents, reflections, and rhythms. Forms often appear as traces or flows, suggesting the energy of the landscape rather than its direct representation. These works occupy a significant place in Jean Capdeville's career, as they fully illustrate his interest in the dynamics of movement and the relationship between nature and abstraction. Today, this period is particularly appreciated for its lyrical dimension and for the balance it offers between gestural expression and the evocation of landscape. His entire body of work thus testifies to the constant exploration of an artist who has developed a style of painting that is at once sensitive, luminous, and deeply rooted in the contemplation of nature.