André Brasilier’s parents, Jacques and Alice, were formative in his own development as an artist. Jacques Brasilier (1883-1965) had trained with Alfons Mucha, Europe’s best known poster artist of the last century. Jacques went on to become an Art Nouveau Symbolist who painted with a strong sense of the spiritual towards his subjects. Andre’s mother, Alice Chaumont, was a highly skilled artist and had been trained at the Royal College of Art in London. André’s own work successfully combines both the classical techniques of his mother’s work and an inherited understanding of colour and impact from his father.
During the first decade of the 20th century, the likes of Georges Braque and André Derain had pioneered the power of expression that can be created through the use of colour and shape alone. This painting by André Brasilier takes its lead from these Modernist principles, not only by reference to the geometry of the composition but also by the use of the colour combination of blue and white. Brasilier has exhibited extensively in Japan and also in Paris at the Espace Mitsukoshi Etoile, in recognition with his affinity to Japanese art. The impact of Japanese ink drawing and calligraphy is visible here, as it is in many of Brasilier’s paintings of horses. The brushwork is reminiscent of sumi-e painting: dynamic and spontaneous, and achieved by the artist physically moving around the canvas using long brushes in order to create a sweeping, light touch of the paint.
