Claude Venard (French, 1913–1999) started training as a painter at the age of 17 at the École des Arts Appliqués in Paris. In 1936, he was part of a group show at the Galerie Billet-Worms, which critic Waldemar George hailed as the birth of the group Forces Nouvelles. During the next four years, this group promoted a new form of figuration, marked by the rejection of Impressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism. Over time, Vernard distanced himself from the group, which became increasingly figurative. In 1939, the group officially split, but Venard continued to gain recognition during and after the war.
He remained faithful to a post-Cubist compositional style established by the Forces Nouvelles, but progressively accentuated the chromatic qualities of his palette, striving to produce crude colors, which he applied in thick impasto. Venard enjoyed success during his lifetime, and was given solo shows around the world, in Paris, London, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dusseldorf, Munich Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Canada, Belgium, and Holland.
Today, his works can be found in major public and private institutions around the world, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris, the Tate London, and the São Paulo Museum of Art.
