André Bauchant  (French, 1873-1958) 

André Bauchant (French, 1873–1958) was a painter associated with the Naïve group and is best known for his flowers, landscapes, and historical scenes. Before becoming an artist in 1919, Bauchant was a gardener in Touraine and worked as a mapmaker in charge of charting and range-finding during World War I. Early in his career, Bauchant was supported by Le Corbusier, who wrote the first study devoted to his work in 1922. In 1927, Bauchant was commissioned to design the sets and costumes for Sergei Diaghilev’s ballet Apollon Musagète. Historical paintings such as The Proclamation of American Independance (1926) exhibit a stiffness and crudeness characteristic of the Naïve artists, known for their lack of academic training. The flatness of Bauchant’s figures and his use of unglazed colors liken his work to medieval paintings. Bauchant’s later work focuses on flowers as well as landscapes that reference biblical, literary and mythological sources. He was one of the most prolific of the Naïve artists and participated in exhibitions throughout his career, including the Salon d’Automne in 1921, the first Naïve art exhibition in 1928, and the Maîtres populaires de la réalité, organized by the Musée de Grenoble in 1937. Bauchant’s work is currently held in several museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate Gallery in London.