"Thanks to painting, I learned to love the world.”
Pierre Boncompain was born in 1938 in Provence, France. Encouraged by his parents to develop as an artist, he first graduated from the French National Academy of Decorative Arts, before continuing to study at the National Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied in the Legueult studio.
Boncompain’s work is always festive; it shows the joy of life with a Mediterranean vibe. His paintings, most of them made in Paris, are evocative of the environment and lifestyle in the south of France. Showing a wide combination of modern influences, he combines a radiant and cheerful brightness of light, as used by Matisse, with a simplicity and division of form reminiscent of Milton Avery. The fiery and earthy colors of his works; terracotta, ocher, rich purple, deep red, and blue, are reminiscent of Gaugain’s paintings of Tahiti.
Pierre Boncompain’s work has been exhibited in museums around the world, including; Musée de Lille, Musée de Valence, Kajikawa Foundation (Kyoto), Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris), Takashimaya Museum (Osaka), Singer Foundation (Holland), Navio Museum (Kyoto), Ambrosiano Library (Milan), and the Shanghai Art Museum (China). His works are in public and private collections around the world.