artist/ HILAIRE

FRANCE

Camille Hilaire (1916-2004) was a French painter born in Metz.
Between 1933 and 1935, he apprenticed as a house painter, while at the same time taking up painting.
A young admirer of Dürer, whose incisive brushstrokes he retained, Camille Hilaire enrolled at the Paris Ecole des Beaux Arts from 1941 to 1943 in the studio of painter and fresco artist Nicolas Untersteller. He was also taught by André Lhote (one of the leading exponents of the cubist movement), who had a strong influence on him. During this period, he exhibited at various Parisian salons (Salon des moins de trente ans, Galerie Royale).
Camille Hilaire’s talent was nourished by his travels, and he found, notably in Normandy and in the Doges city, a source of inspiration that would dominate his work for many years. Winner of numerous prizes (Casa Velasquez Prize, Robert Antral Prize, Second Grand Prix de Rome, Société des Amateurs d’Art Prize), Camille Hilaire taught drawing at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Nancy, then in Paris in 1958.An artist of protean talent (stained glass, tapestry, decoration, illustration), present at numerous events, with a body of work acclaimed by critics and commissioned by the French government, Camille Hilaire’s sense of organization of the canvas – witness to a thoughtful composition – correlated with a daring chromatic palette, lends his work a poetic atmosphere, exuding harmony and gentle reverie.
Works by Camille Hilaire can be found in numerous museums: Musée National d’Art Moderne Paris / Honfleur / Strasbourg / Princeton / Jakarta / Poitiers… .