Raymond Peynet

1908–1999

Raymond Peynet is a world-famous French artist born in Paris in 1908. When he was 15, he was admitted to the Ecole des Arts Appliqués, which was conveniently located across the street from his parents’ bistro. His first form of employment was at an advertising agency, Tolmer, where he performed jobs from sweeping the floor to creating labels for perfume bottles, eventually working on advertisements himself. In 1930, he married Denise Damour and began publishing his illustrations throughout the Parisian press, including Le Rire, Rire à deux, Paris Magazine, and The Boulevardier.

Due to his romantic and humorous artwork of love between men and women, Peynet has won worldwide acclaim and has been called “the Painter of Love.” In 1980, the Museum Peynet was opened in Tokyo, Japan. In 1981, a mural was commissioned, 120 feet long and 24 feet high for the city of Carros, France. From 1982-1990, exhibitions were held in galleries in Europe and Japan. A Peynet stamp was issued in France in 1985 by the government to honor his work.