André Brasilier

André Brasilier was a French painter, born in 1929 in Saumur, France, who studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1952, he received the Florence Blumenthal Award and, the following year, the Prix de Rome for painting. He resided at the Villa Medici in Rome from 1954 to 1957, then lived and worked in Paris until his passing in September 2026.

Blending abstraction and expressionism, André Brasilier's lyrical, dreamlike paintings explore an intimate communion with nature. Horses—described by Brasilier as "a superb creation...charged with symbolism, strength, dynamism and beauty"—feature prominently, their elegant forms cantering through serene seascapes, chilly winter woods and brilliant sunsets. The artist's wife and muse, Chantal, is also a favourite subject, often portrayed delicately arranging flowers.

Brasilier had his first retrospective of one hundred artworks from 1950-1980 at the Château de Chenonceau in 1980 and a retrospective exhibition at the Musée Picasso-Château Grimaldi in Antibes, the French Riviera, in 1988. He has since been honoured with major retrospectives both at Russia's renowned State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg in 2005 and at the Museum Haus Ludwig für Kunstausstellungen Saarlois in Germany in 2007.