Francine Chimène, Signs In Grey, French Woman Painter, Chatou, Circa 1980

Francine Chimène, Signs in Grey, French Woman Painter, Chatou, circa 1980

Artist: Francine Chimène (1929–2019) //
Descriptive title: Signs in Grey //
Circa 1980 //
Medium: Oil and mixed media on canvas //
Dimensions: approx. 55 × 46 cm //
Signed “Chimène” lower right //
Inscription on the reverse: “Chimène – 22 rue Labélonye – Chatou 78 400” //
Provenance: from the artist’s heirs //
Condition: good, with intentionally thick and irregular paint surface //
Unframed //

Abstract composition by Francine Chimène (1929–2019), a French woman painter active in Chatou, on the banks of the Seine. The artist’s address, 22 rue Labélonye, Chatou, is inscribed directly on the stretcher.

Across a broad grey-blue field, Chimène develops a free network of lines, signs, small red, green and black accents, and areas of built-up paint. The surface takes on an almost calligraphic character, composed of interrupted marks, scratches and fragmented forms.

The work belongs to the most decisively abstract phase of her career. Her daughter, Marion Dillange (1963–2020), was also a painter, working primarily in abstraction and collage, suggesting an interesting artistic dialogue between the two generations.

Francine Chimène lived and worked in Chatou, a town historically associated with the Impressionists and the Île des Impressionnistes. Some online sources give 1933 as her year of birth, while documentation connected with her death indicates that 1929 is the correct date.

The work comes from the artist’s heirs.