Large Painting by Michel Bron Valentin, Visionary Painter of the Strange and Monsters

An important composition depicting a unique universe full of monsters and fantastical animals, here Michel Bron's* imagination blossomed on a cardboard panel. The title of this work is "The Unlucky Ones," information obtained by the painter's daughter, and it was painted in his studio in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. You either love it or hate it; personally, I love it, and that's precisely the appeal of our profession: unearthing hidden gems from artists little known on the national scene for our clients.
Like the monsters of Leopold Chauveau, which no one knew before the exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay, I think collectors would snap up Michel Bron's work following a major retrospective.
Michel Bron exhibited around 1975 at the Braumüller Gallery.

He is described as the master watchmaker of the strange. He invented robots, dolls, and witchcraft totems. For him, being is nothing but a collection of gears, wires, accumulators, and imported parts—a soulless mechanism where babies have the faces of centenarians and men are cosmonauts departing for the great unknown of impossible dimensions.
All explore the fantastic space of inner truths that has always haunted the greatest creators and belongs to the secret tradition of the art of painting. At a time when we are given, through cosmic conquests and atomic exploration, the opportunity to conceive of new frontiers for our intelligence,
source: André Parinaud.

Biography:
Painter and draftsman Michel Bron (1938-2010), known as "Valentin"
Painter, but also poet and musician,
a libertarian above all.

A prominent figure in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, he lived there from 1982.
In his studio in the 6th arrondissement, he created his universe populated by strange characters. During open studio events, visitors could admire a veritable court of miracles from which canvases and drawings emerged, hanging on the walls or propped up on tangled easels.
Under the large drawing table, dozens of pairs of shining eyes seemed
to scrutinize you, to peer at you.
Uncertain forms lurk.

A phantasmagorical universe populated by beggars with terrifying grimaces and unsettling contortions, by succubi, by monsters. And, tucked away in a portfolio, were faces much more serene, imbued with great tenderness.

A boundless imagination.

A merciless gaze upon humankind.

In any case, a truly unique work, far removed from trends and well-trodden paths; a work of extreme precision, down to the details of the costumes and the often medieval setting, in an admirably masterful chiaroscuro. Valérie speaks of her father: “Born in Paris on January 21, 1938, raised by his single mother, he often attended boarding school: a childhood that wasn't always easy. Since they lived near the Louvre, the museum was, however, his playground. He recounted how deeply he had been influenced by paintings like Rubens's The Kermesse (or Village Wedding) and, of course, by Flemish and Dutch painting. Later, one can assume that he observed the faces, the strange and colorful characters of Les Halles, while he lived in that area. He was a true self-taught artist. While attending a graphic arts school for a time, his drawing teacher told him:
“You don't need to take any lessons!” He possessed a prodigious
visual and auditory memory,
which allowed him to play several
instruments, including the lute (mandol).

He loved the 14th arrondissement
as a kind of intellectual and artistic extension of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which he had frequented extensively
in the 1950s.

Source: François Heintz

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