Chantal Sellan
was born in 1936 in Nantes. As a child she dreamed of
becoming a dancer or a singer. She therefore chose to
study dance and drama throughout her secondary education.
In 1954 she married and gave birth to a little boy. Sadly
her marriage failed and she found herself living alone.
After numerous travels and painful events
she met her present husband in 1976. Through her new-found
stability and zest for life she regained the desire to
paint.
To this day her enthusiasm for painting
is genuine: “I never know in advance what I’m
going to do ... each time my paintbrush guides my imagination
on new voyage.”
Chantal Sellan’s work is
bewitching and precise, resonant with energy and ‘joie
de vivre’. Her colouful, meticulous style produces
paintings of character, fragrant with the perfume of paradise
lost.
 Selection
of works
Idealized scenes set in
a magical universe reveal the artists sensitivity. Occasionally
she writes a poem on the reverse side of her paintings.
It is through the following poem that she relates the
story of the painting she generously donated to the museum
in May 2004: |
| "The leader of the band of
happiness arrives in a sorrowful village in order to restore
the villagers’ joy in life. The little band is followed
by a cortège composed of animals threatened with
extinction, a clown, the sea full of fish and an artist
come to paint the sky blue...” |
The leader
of the band of happiness 1995
Oil on canvas 61x38cm |
Exhibitions,
awards and collections
1988 “International
Naïve Art”, Museum of Civilisation, Quebec,
Canada
Salon of French Artists, Cannes
Salon of French Artists, Paris
Salon of French Artists, Saint Tropez
1985 First Prize for Naïve Art, Cannes,
France
1990 First Prize for Naïve Art, Cannes (International
Grand Prix for Painting)
2000 First Prize for Painting in Miniature, Australia
(Global Exhibition for Painting in Miniature)
2002 Fine Art Gallery collection, Sherbrooke,
Quebec, Canada
2004 International Museum of Naïve Art collection,
Vicq, France
Selection
of works
|
