French Naïve Art Painting: "the Hot-air Balloon Takes Flight," Signed "grand’mère Paris"

Grand-Mère Paris (Élise Nonclercq, 1906–1982) is a major figure in French naïve painting. Born in Quarouble, in the Nord department, she first worked as a shopkeeper and later as an antique dealer in Paris. It was a family tragedy—the death of her granddaughter Françoise in 1963—that prompted her to take up painting as a way to express her grief. Her first painting, *La Mort de Françoise*, marked the beginning of an artistic career that was as late-blooming as it was remarkable.

As early as 1965, her first exhibition at the Palais-Royal was an immediate success and opened the doors to national, and later international, recognition. While continuing to work as an antique dealer, she exhibited in France and abroad—notably in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria—and participated in numerous prestigious art fairs.

Her style is distinguished by a great freedom of composition: deliberately inverted perspectives, sweeping diagonals, figures scattered throughout the space, and a visual rhythm that at times evokes tapestry. This highly personal pictorial style lends her works a unique poetry and an immediately recognizable identity.

Today, Grand-Mère Paris is considered one of the leading figures in French naïve painting of the second half of the 20th century. Her works are included in numerous public and private collections, both in France and abroad.