France has always attracted artists. History’s greatest inevitably ended up somewhere in the country: Chagall, Van Gogh, Picasso, da Vinci, Giacometti and Vasarely were all adopted by France and even Winston Churchill learnt how to paint there, looking up at Europe’s highest cliffs in Cassis.
In the nineteenth century, northern France was full of British artists. Most headed for Paris, but Brittany, Dieppe, Calais and Boulogne all had communities of English painters, some becoming quite famous, others just hiding from their London creditors.
Today, the British bohemians have moved mostly south. Many to the Dordogne and Lot, even more to the Languedoc and Côte d’Azur. Some towns, particularly those which have had a brush with Picasso, boast more art galleries than cafés and ‘artist communities’ have sprung up offering discussions, solace and tubes of Red Cadmium as well as the loan of the odd beret.
But is it easier to be an artist in France? Does a history of cultural appreciation and respect for the arts make it easier to survive there? Is it the light? The brutalism? The closer ties with nature? The combination of low rents and aristocratic clientele? What is it about France that makes it seem more natural to be an artist?
British artist John Hoyland has been painting landscapes in the Lot for 23 years. Having decided to leave London because of the high cost of living there, an artist friend in France encouraged him and his artist wife to come out. They rented a place north of Cahors over the summer but as the money began to run out, wondered what they could do. Thankfully, the local priest took pity on them and reminded his Sunday congregation that there was a British couple desperate to find somewhere to live and paint – the next thing a Belgian aristocrat offered them a free outhouse on his estate.
They have since bought a place nearby and John teaches piano one day a week in a school but it’s his art that means they can survive financially. ‘We don’t even have the Internet. Being an artist is more than a job – everything that happens in my life is related to it.’
He has just returned from a successful show in Paris but is acutely aware of the risks of trying to make a living from painting. Himself a figurative artist, John believes French children are all but brainwashed into thinking that contemporary art is ‘good’ and ‘happening’ while a more figurative style is now dated. He says it’s hard to sell figurative work outside the capital.
‘In Paris, they are freer, less taken-in by all the bumph about contemporary art and usually pleased to see a “cultured” painting,’ he says.
The truth is that being an artist, whether you paint in oils, watercolours or sculpt figures, is an irrevocably tough profession and for most, it is a gut-wrenching, perilous commitment, filled with humiliation, disappointment and the scattered moment of bliss.
Chris Wiles
It’s exactly a year since Chris Wiles crossed the Channel. Having gained a Masters in Printmaking at Brighton University and the London Print Studio, he and his wife Kate packed up their easels and rented a large, crumbling house southwest of Limoges.
‘We were living in Brighton and, with both of us artists, painting until midnight and then up at six the following morning to be at work: we were at the end of our tether. We just wanted to give ourselves the chance to be full-time artists.
‘We found a house to rent on the Internet. It’s in a tiny hamlet made up of nine houses but only three are inhabited! It’s so much cheaper to live here and because much of my work has ‘landscape issues’, it’s wonderful to have so much space. I’m not hassled, my head feels clear and I’ve had some good commissions since I’ve been here. I did a portrait of Wayne Hemingway (in biro swirls) and I’ve been asked to do the actor Nigel Planer.
‘We speak a bit of French and people have been very welcoming from the start. I suppose they find two British artists being here, in essentially a very rural area, quite odd. However, in France there is much greater respect for artisans and people who make things with their hands. They also have a much more straightforward way of living – we love cooking and the ingredients here are excellent – you can eat very well here for little money. I suppose we have joined a long list of artists who need to find a place to live that’s cheap.’
Chris’s work is appearing at Battersea’s Affordable Art Fair in March, at AAF New York and Oxford’s Art in Action with the Mark Jason gallery later this year.
See www.christopherwiles.net
Emma Debs
Emma Debs can see Mont Sainte-Victoire from her garden just north of Aix-en-Provence. She was married there last summer to a Frenchman, and Cézanne’s mountain, which the artist painted over 60 times, formed a backdrop to their wedding photographs.
‘We came to France for a better life and to bring the children up in a more natural environment. I used to do private portraits when the children were very little but now my youngest has just started nursery school, I can start painting again afresh.
‘When I decided to take it up in France I didn’t know I’d be doing abstracts! At art school in the UK I had specialised in stained glass and had then worked for a design company for several years before moving out to Provence in 2005. I just began painting and someone saw what I’d done and commissioned me to paint something for them and then it really took off.
‘People here seem really into art and I think France is a great place to be a painter, especially if you are a beginner. In England people seem quite cynical if you say you are an artist. Here, people give you the chance. They come to exhibitions; they seem more enthusiastic.
‘The pieces I’ve been working on recently take me about a week to finish. I do a sketch first and use oils and gold leaf and paper to build up a heavily textured surface. All around me there’s turquoise, lilac, mossy-green – I had never used gold in my paintings before, but it’s so important here. The sun makes everything glisten.’
Emma sold all 15 works from her first show last November and has been busy painting commissions and preparing for an exhibition in Salon-de-Provence in March.
See www.emmadebs.com
Tessa Baker
Tessa Baker grew up in London where she was always painting and drawing and just presumed she’d end up as a set designer like her mother. However, aged 15, she was sent, not to art school, but to Lausanne to train as a chef.
‘It destroyed me – all my dreams were suddenly broken. I eventually came back to London and started at Chelsea school of art, working nights as a waitress to pay for the course, but a mixture of poverty and lack of confidence as an artist meant I decided to give it all up to become a chef. In 1985, I left England and moved to the south of France and began cooking on boats.
I managed to shut art out until one day I heard a gallery owner in nearby Vence talking on the radio about art soirées … and then it all started flooding out of me again and I became as deeply passionate as I ever was.
Catering was always a means-to-an-end for me but now I realise I can be a chef and an artist. I see both as a celebration of nature. I do catering for four months of the year – I can do watercolours during that time but not oils. When I’m not cooking, I paint for an hour and a half in the morning then after lunch I work until it grows dark.
My art has grown-up in the last decade. I’m not nearly so precious. It’s like when I cook – it’s about practice. I allow the painting to speak to me rather than feel anxious to get it right.’
Tessa now lives in Lorgues, in the Var, and has pieces showing in several galleries in Provence.
See www.tessabaker.com
All the artists featured are happy to undertake commissions and can be contacted through their websites
Artquest and the British Council in France have designed an excellent website for UK artists who wish to live and work in France. It offers advice and includes details of the French art scene plus venues, galleries, studios and possible sources of funding.
www.artquest.org.uk/artroute/
Art tips
1 Make sure you understand the business side of the art market
2 Buy as expensive materials as you can afford
3 Some town halls offer free studios for artists
4 Don’t be afraid to contact galleries directly
5 Be tenacious and brave and prepared to go for a long time on a small income