Andrâe Bauchant : catalogue raisonnâe

Andre Bauchant (1873-1958) is one of those French artists long known as 'naive painters' for whom the term 'modern primitives' would be more appropriate.

Besides landscapes of the Touraine countryside and pictures of flowers and birds, he painted poetic and mythical visions.

A horticulturalist by profession, he did not embark on his career as a painter until he was 46.

His work is marked by his close affinity with nature and his passion for ancient mythologies.

In 1921, Bauchant exhibited for the first time at the Salon d'Automne in Paris, where he came to the attention of Amedee Ozenfant and Le Corbusier, who became Bauchant's mentor and a passionate collector of his work. Andre Bauchant's position in the shadow of his far more famous fellow-painter Henri Rousseau is unjustified.

For the first time, this catalogue raisonne offers a comprehensive overview of Bauchant's art, and thus provides the basis for a re-evaluation.