Camille Hilaire

Les Courses (The Horse Races)

c.1970

Camille HILAIRE (1916-2004) was a French painter and weaver from Metz in Eastern France. He attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was also tutored by André Lhote. Camille Hilaire is subtle in his composition. He did away with efficient structures, he held power with colour and achieved a wonderful, consistent sense of calm, amplitude and greatness by translating patterns and elements, which never prevented him from expressing a burning passion for creating and sharing. His nudes were remarkable, with perfect curves, coiled with charm and set in a context in which their sensual fullness imposed itself with provocative grace. As for his landscapes, Camille Hilaire could determine the structure without apparent constraints, overlaying a fresh, spicy green that is so characteristic of them. Thus, nature and elements they become the pretext upon which the artist "pushed" the colour to get the effect felt. Over time, a dozen monographs have been devoted to him as well as documentaries and films. He leaves behind a large body of work who strongly influenced the French painters of the mid-twentieth century.