MUSEE YVES BRAYER (1907 - 1990)

The museum contains a retrospective look at the works of Yves Brayer. It is an outstanding collection because of the quality and rarity of the one hundred or more works covering almost sixty years of the artist's career. Beside Provençal landscapes hang paintings inspired by Spain and Italy. They focus on the main subjects dear to the heart of Yves Brayer, one of the most representative painters of contemporary figuration.

As with other fellow painters of the inter-war years, Yves Brayer devoted a large part of his work to making a record of the then everyday life. While recognizing the pictorial tendencies of late 19th century and early 20th painting, some painters preferred follow the path led by Vuillard and Bonnard, as did the "Réalité Poétique" group, or the path of admirers of Courbet's work, such as the "Forces Nouvelles" movement. Although Brayer was always independent, he was on friendly terms with such painters such as Francis Gruber, founder of "Nouveau Réalisme", the New French Realism of the 50s made famous by Bernard Buffet.

Yves Brayer was born in Versailles in 1907. Upon his arrival in Paris in 1924, he set out for the academies in Montparnasse and, from there, for the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. While he is still a student, his works are displayed at the "Salon d'Automne" and the "Salon des Indépendant". In 1927, Yves Brayer is awarded a state grant and he leaves for Spain. After a stay in Morocco supported by a prize created by Maréchal Lyautey, he is awarded the Grand Prix de Rome in 1930. At first nostalgic of Spain, Yves Brayer is then deeply engaged by the richness of Italian life in the early 1930s.

Back in Paris in 1934, he assembles his work for an exhibition at the Galerie Charpentier, faubourg Saint-Honoré, where the public audience discovers the authenticity, the powerful and the original character, of this 27-year-old painter.

The year 1945 marks a turning point in his career. In Provence, he is truck by the architectural harmony of the country side.  Soon, he decides to spend several months in Provence every year. Strongly attracted to Mediterranean landscapes, Brayer returns to work in Spain and Italy, but Provence and Camargue remain his favorite places until the end of his life.

During his various trip to Mexico, Egypt, Iran, Greece, Russia, the United States and Japan, he is quick to seize the rhythms and lights of these countries, which he renders in numerous drawings and watercolors.

Yves Brayer's work is represented in various museums and numerous collections both in France and abroad. In September 1991, the muse Yves Brayer is inaugurated in les Baux de Provence.

Opening hours :

April to September, open every day from 10 am to 12.30 pm and 2 pm to 6.30 pm

October to March, open every day except Tuesday, from 10 am to 12.30 pm and 2 pm to 5 pm or 5.30 pm.

Annual closure from January to end February.

Admission Fees

Adults : 5 € per person

Groups : 3 € per person

Tel  33 (0)4 90 54 36 99

Fax 33 (0)1 46 33 41 18

More information: www.yvesbrayer.com