Designed as a retrospective, this exhibition covers nearly forty years of creation. It highlights the theme of the horse, which the artist has made a specialty of since his beginnings. Sometimes classic in the representation of hounds, sometimes modern, treating the theme of races following the examples of Degas and Lautrec, La Boulaye is recognized as a virtuoso in animal art.
The career of Antoine de La Boulaye (1951) began with his training at the Ecole Supérieure d'Arts Graphiques Penninghen in Paris. He became artistic director of advertising and publishing agencies until 1980, then devoted himself exclusively to painting. He quickly established himself as a talented horse painter and exhibited regularly at the La Cymaise gallery in Paris. Prestigious institutions open their doors to him, from the Grandes Écuries de Chantilly to the museums of Nantes and Béziers, including the French Institute of Seville. Large French galleries devoted exhibitions to him, notably the Baudoin Lebon gallery at the FIAC (International Contemporary Art Fair) in 1993. Antoine de La Boulaye's fame crosses borders, and he is the subject of personal exhibitions in Switzerland, Belgium, the United States and the United Kingdom.
His official recognition came in 1984, when the French president ordered two paintings from him. The painter stayed several days at Windsor Castle in contact with Prince Philip, whom he spent long periods drawing on his famous carriages. The two paintings will be presented to Queen Elizabeth II during the president's visit to the United Kingdom, and are still kept in the royal collections within the private apartments.
A versatile painter, Antoine de La Boulaye's style is constantly evolving, in his search to translate unique atmospheres, from the world of horses to that of Spain and the Orient, which have fascinated him since a young age. After representing hunting, racing and carriage scenes, all anchored in the classical tradition, he turned towards different pictorial languages, exploring for a time contemporary abstraction and collages, where his sensitivity for color and drawing still demonstrates his obsession with horses. It also covers other techniques such as sculpture.
His research has recently led him to create vivid and colorfully staged images representing real or imaginary riders. These results are obtained by following a meticulous process consisting of first painting his subject in a very accomplished manner before deconstructing and erasing it then superimposing it with other images. The result is an increased feeling of reality in movement, even emotion, in the representation of bullfights.
The works of Antoine de La Boulaye are present in prestigious private and public collections, including:
Societe Generale Bank,
HRH Charles III,
Pays de la Loire Regional Contemporary Art Fund,
National Contemporary Art Fund,
Embassy of France in Mexico,
French Embassy in Madrid,
National Library, Cabinet des Estampes, Paris, Musée de la
Rock on Yon,
The Paris Mint,
City of Niort.
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