ANTOINE DE LA BOULAYE
(born 1951)
Antoine de La Boulaye is today the most revered horse painter in France.
His career spans three decades, starting with his education at the Ecole Superieure d’Arts Graphiques of the Academie Julian in Paris. He quickly established himself as a talented horse painter, and started exhibiting regularly at the Cymaise Gallery in Paris. A prestigious list of venues opened their doors to him, from the Chantilly Grand Stables to the Museums of Nantes and Beziers, the French Institute in Seville, and many leading French galleries, including exhibitions at the FIAC (Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain) in Paris. His fame travelled abroad, and he has also had solo exhibitions in Switzerland, Belgium, the United States, and the United Kingdom. His official recognition, however, came in 1984, when he was commissioned by the President of France to paint two paintings offered as a gift to Her Majesty the Queen during the President’s visit to the United Kingdom.
A versatile painter, Antoine de La Boulaye’s style evolves constantly, in his search to translate distinctive atmospheres, from the world of horses to that of Spain and the Orient, which have fascinated from an early age. After representing hunting, racing and carriage scenes, all firmly rooted in the classical tradition which he masters so well, he moves towards different pictorial languages, for a time exploring contemporary abstract art and collages, where his sense of colour and classical equilibrium still manifest his obsession with the horse. He also tackles other techniques such as sculpture, in bronze.
His search has recently led him to create vivid and colourful images of “staged” scenes, representing elements of real or imaginary riders. These are achieved by following a painstaking process of first painting his subject in a highly finished way before deconstructing it, rubbing and obliterating it and superimposing it with other images. The result is a heightened sense of reality of the movement in motion, if not emotion when representing bullfights.
Antoine de La Boulaye's works are represented in both private and public collections, including Her Majesty the Queen, Banque Societe Generale, Fond Regional d’Art Contemporain of the Loire region, Fond National d’Art Contemporain (French Embassies in Mexico and in Madrid), Bibliotheque Nationale - Paris, and in the La Roche sur Yon Museum (Arthoteque), France.
Solo Exhibitions
2011 – Bernard Chauchet Contemporary Art - London
2009 – Galerie Yves Faurie - Sete
2006- Bernard Chauchet, ThirteenLangtonStreetGallery, London
2004 – Bernard Chauchet, London
2003 - Artemis Gallery, Paris
1999 - FIAC 1999 (Champagne Pommery)
1998 - Yves Faury Gallery, Sete, France
1998 - CAC - Centre Culturel de la ville de Niort, France
1998 - Maison de l’Infante, St Jean de Luz, France
1998 - “Ananmorphies Inflences”, Murielle Durand Gallery, Paris
1998 - “The Pretty month of May”, University Paris X and Bordeaux
Aline VIdal Gallery, Paris
1997 - “Les Instantanes”, Fond Regional d’Art Contemporain des Pays de la Loire
1997 - Nantes Fine Art Museum, France
1996 - La Cour Varenne, PAris
1996 - Jersey Museum
1995 - Schneider Group, Paris
1995 - Mercure Gallery, Beziers
1995 - Maison Billaud, Fontenay-Le-Comte
1995 - Simon Aldrige Gallery - London
1995 - French Institute of Seville, Spain
1994 - Tryptique exhibition: Bordeaux, BNP, Maison du vin de Bordeaux
1994 - Hong Kong, C.O. Simon Aldrige Gallery
1994 - Simon Aldrige Gallery - London
1993 - FIAC - Baudoin Lebon Gallery
1993 - Sintitulo Gallery, Nice
1993 - Image de Marque Gallery
1993 - Simon Aldrige Gallery - London
1993 - E. Peyre Gallery, Paris
1993 - Baudoin Lebon Gallery, Paris
1993 - Salon Decouverte, Grand Palais B. Lebon Gallery, Paris
1992 - La Cymaise Gallery, Paris
1991 - Schneider Group, Paris
1991 - Hotel du Departement, Conseil General de Vendee
1991 - Beziers Museum
1991 - Mercure Gallery, Beziers
1991 - Espace 87, Fontenay Le Comte
1990 - La Cymaise Gallery, Paris
1989 - Paul Valloton Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland
1989 - La Cymaise Gallery, Paris
1987 - “Les Grandes Ecuries” (the Grand Stables) at Chantilly, France
1986 - Criswick Gallery, New York, USA
1985 - La Cymaise Gallery, Paris
1984 - Official commision from the President of France for two paintings offered to Her Majesty the Queen.
1984 - Richard Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
1983 - Criswick Gallery, New York, USA
1982 - “Les Grandes Ecuries” (the Grand Stables) at Chantilly, France
1982 - Beaufreton Gallery, Nantes
1976 - 1982 - La Cymaise Gallery, Paris
Public Collections:
Banque Societe Generale
Fond Regional d’Art Contemporain of the Loire region
Fond National d’Art Contemporain
- French Embassy in Mexico
-French Embassy in Madrid
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris
Arthoteque - La Roche sur Yon Museum
City of Niort
Commission of a painting on the theme of Don Quijote for the Ganivainc Collection (« 22 Artistes Français Illustrent Le Quichotte »)
Illustration of the « Annuaire de la Venerie francaise » 2005