Claude Venard became internationally renowned during the 1950's for his bold heavily impastoed post-cubist paintings.
Born in France in 1913, Venard dedicated himself fully to painting at the age of seventeen he studied at the École des Arts Appliqués for six years, having fled the Académie des Beaux-Arts after only 48 hours. In 1938 he signed the “Rupture” manifesto, and participated in the first exhibition of the Forces Nouvelles group, alongside Gruber and Tal-Coat at the Galerie Billiet-Vorms, together they were instrumental in forging the aesthetic of the immediate post-war period of the Ecole de Paris, but Venard soon became dissatisfied with their “miserabalisme” and muted palette. He began introducing more colour and energy into his work and combining it with rich impasto and varying textures, he developed the bold post-cubist style for which he became internationally renowned during the 1950’s. He received critical acclaim and was personally championed by André Salmon, and Waldemar George, who described his painting as “Apocalyptic art! Beings and everyday things suddenly regain their meaning. Emotional values are once more felt.”
Before his death during the final hours of the twentieth century, Claude Venard had become a highly celebrated artist having featured in contemporary art exhibitions around the world since 1935. He participated in the influential École de Paris exhibitions at the Galerie Charpentier, and helped found the revolutionary Salon de Mai, in 1944, which played an essential role in promoting the avant-garde abstract painters. He held numerous successful one man shows, including at the galleries G. Denis, Drouant-David, Charpentier, Romanet-Vercel in Paris and most notably Bernheim-Jeune in 1953. In America he became a regular exhibitor at the Romanet Gallery, Kleeman Gallery, The Fine Arts Association, the Slatkin Gallery and Knoedler Gallery. Further exhibitions were held in London at the Leicester Gallery (1950, 1954), the Lefevre Gallery (1955) and Arthur Tooth (1959). Venard established a truly international reputation by showing in Chicago, Milan, Geneva, Tokyo, Munich, San Francisco, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Dallas, Buenos Aires, Philadelphia, Montreal, and practically all the capitals of Europe, and at the Venice Biennale in 1956. Two important retrospectives of his work were organised in 1960 by the Musée de L’Athénée (Geneva) and in 1969 by the Reading Museum (Pennsylvania). Most recently at the Musée Jean Couty in 2025.
The artist is represented in numerous major public collections including the Tate Gallery, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), Whitney Museum (New York), and the City Museums of Basle, Düsseldorf, Montreal, Buenos Aires, Munich, Dallas, Mexico City, Grenoble and Tokyo.
