La Boulaye, Jockeys, Oil on Paper

Antoine de La Boulaye (born 1951)
Jockeys
Oil on paper
Signed lower left
35.5 x 46 cm
Antoine de La Boulaye's career began with his studies at the École Supérieure d'Arts Graphiques and the Académie Julian in Paris. He then worked as an art director for advertising and publishing agencies until 1980, before devoting himself exclusively to painting. He quickly established himself as a talented painter of horses and exhibited regularly at the Galerie La Cymaise in Paris. Prestigious institutions have opened their doors to him, from the Great Stables of Chantilly to the museums of Nantes and Béziers, as well as the French Institute in Seville. Numerous major French galleries have dedicated exhibitions to his work, notably at the FIAC (International Contemporary Art Fair) in Paris. Antoine de La Boulaye's renown extends far beyond France, and he has been the subject of solo exhibitions in Switzerland, Belgium, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

His official recognition came in 1984 when the French president commissioned two paintings from him. The artist spent several days at Windsor Castle with Prince Philip, whom he sketched at length on his famous horse-drawn carriages. The two paintings were presented as a gift to Her Majesty the Queen during the president's visit to the United Kingdom and remain in the Royal Collection.

A versatile painter, Antoine de La Boulaye's style is constantly evolving, reflecting his quest to capture unique atmospheres, from the world of horses to that of Spain and the Orient, which have fascinated him since childhood. After depicting scenes of hunting, racing, and carriage rides, all deeply rooted in the classical tradition he so masters, he has turned to different pictorial languages, exploring contemporary abstraction and collage for a time, where his sense of color and drawing still manifests his obsession with the horse. He also explores other techniques such as sculpture.

His research has recently led him to create vivid and colorful staged images representing real or imagined riders. These results are achieved through a meticulous process of first painting his subject in a highly refined manner before deconstructing, rubbing, and erasing it, and then layering it with other images. The result is a heightened sense of reality in motion, even emotion, in his depictions of bullfights.

The works of Antoine de La Boulaye are held in prestigious private and public collections, including:

HRH Charles III,
Société Générale Bank,
Loire Regional Contemporary Art Fund,
National Contemporary Art Fund,
French Embassies in Mexico,
French Embassies in Madrid,
National Library, Prints Department, Paris,
Museum of La Roche-sur-Yon (Arthoteque),
Paris Mint,
City of Niort.

Ref: 8LGMBIUDHW