Artist's Biography
Monique Chrétien has been painting since she can remember. As a student at the Beaux Arts in Aix, she felt stifled by the classical approach and emphasis on the mechanics over creativity (a familiar complaint among French artists). Her real training started when she went out on her own, capturing the local color in the market scenes and landscapes which are her specialty. Perhaps it’s the faceless people, or the play of light that shines through in her strong use of shadows and color, but I’ve found that there is haunting beauty to her paintings. This sense of mystery, she says, is her intentional way of revealing something deeper than just a pretty picture. Part of the contrast in her paintings is a result of her training in black and white as a younger artist and an appreciation of “chiaro scuro” (contrast of light and dark) by the Spanish masters. We believe that her pastels are particularly complex and mysterious, while her oils and acrylics are more vibrant, fresh and colorful, in a naïve and unstudied manner.
Chrétien, who exhibits permanently in two galleries in France, has been a very popular artist due to her wide range of talent and appeal, the simplicity and strength of her work and her reasonable prices. Although she has sold hundreds of paintings to clients all over the world, her success in Atlanta is overwhelming. She is as excited about this as we are.
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