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    For over thirty years, Andre Renoux (1939-2002) was th e leading French artist in what has become known as Urban Realist painting. Renoux is widely recognized as the father and inventor of this style of painting. His work focused on the documentation of the streets of Paris, each with its own personality and singular charm.  

   Renoux painted the surrounding mood of the street as well as the buildings, imbuing his canvases with a sense of the solitude and soul of the Parisian landscape. Many of his paintings are void of people; this allows the viewer to personally visualize, from a personal perspectives, that specific moment in time. 

   Artist Edward Hopper (1882-1967) is generally recognized as America's most important realist painter. His works captured a feeling of loneliness and a sense of detachment that set his work apart from all other American painters. Renoux, like Hopper, had the unusual ability to project a feeling of emotion through the power of light and shadow; and even though many of the works possess strong color and bright light, they still reflect a style that is close to the point of complete emptiness.   

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    Renoux's paintings emphasize the the architecture of an era past, but also portray a present that is still fully functional today. The importance of artists such as Renoux and Hopper is that they captured not only the essence and detail of an architectural period, but also the spirit of times that have continued to slip away, eclipsed by the fast-moving world around them.

    The importance of an artist often comes after the recognition of his art by important collections, both public and private. The continued collecting of Renoux's work by the government of France and other institutional collections is a testimonial to an artist who dedicated himself fully to documenting the urban landscapes of his country.

[Above right: Renoux with French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who collected many of Renoux's works]

 CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARTWORKS CREATED BY ANDRE RENOUX