James Coignard

1925 Tours



James Coignard was born on 15th September 1925 in Tours. The French painter and graphic artist showed a strong interest in art at a young age, and began studying at the "École des Arts Décoratifs" in Nizza in 1948.
Just one year later, James Coignard exhibited his work at the Musée Îsle de France in St Jean Cap Ferrat. He work is influenced by Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, and Marc Chagall. The artist’s colours are multi-layered, but also flooded with light.
He has also been inspired by contemporary Spanish art, and Catalonian sculpture and frescoes. From the 1960s, Coignard experimented with the carborundum technique, a special gelatine process employed within printmaking. James Coignard works are exhibited in various exhibitions in galleries and museums, as well as the public collections in the Guggenheim Museum New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.