Jean-Claude Picot

Picot developed a unique style that recalls a Post-Impressionist application of color, combined with the expressive qualities of form and line. His compositions are often calming, possessing his personal joie de vivre. He frequently captured the animation, romance, and essence of the landscape as his favored subject, although he also painted still lifes, cityscapes, markets, and festival scenes. All of his work is imbued with the same bright and cheerful character and is instantly identifiable.

Beginning in 1947, he exhibited in over fifty one-person shows throughout the world including exhibitions in the United States, Belgium, Norway, and Australia. Picot lived part of each year in the south of France and often found inspiration in the Cote d’Azur – its visitors, beaches, and boat-filled harbors. His work abounds with natural beauty, featuring breathtaking panoramic views charged with the unique light of the Mediterranean. Picot worked in a Post-Impressionist manner, reducing flowers, trees, houses, and figures to their essential forms.

In the reviews of Picot’s solo shows in Paris, Bordeaux, and Oslo, the critics cited the affinities between the masters of Impressionism and early 20th-century Fauvism with Picot’s work. In his later years, Picot continued the tradition of important French landscape painters until he passed away in August of 2020.

Picot actively worked in many media – oil, acrylic, watercolor, etching, ceramic, and more recently, serigraphy and embellished serigraphy – which beautifully captured his vibrant color and painterly technique. His work remains a favorite of collectors internationally and is represented in prestigious collections worldwide.