Self-taught painter of Spanish origin, born in 1899 in Herbeset (Spain), died in 1969 in Moûtiers (Savoie).
Life
Born into a poor family with no access to schooling, Anselme Boix-Vives emigrated to France at eighteen. In 1926 he took over a fruit and vegetable business in Moûtiers, in Savoie, which he ran for most of his life. A committed pacifist, he wrote and published a “peace plan” intended to save the world, which he sent, without success, to General de Gaulle, the Queen of England and the Pope.
He retired in 1962; his wife died a few months later. His son Michel, remembering the drawings he used to make on the back of the shop’s invoices, encouraged him to paint. A new life began: in seven years, until his death in 1969, he produced more than two thousand works.
The work
Gouaches, oils, Ripolin paintings and drawings make up a body of work in bold colours, peopled with kings, chatelaines, lunar figures, personalities of his time, ordinary people and jungle scenes. His quest for universal peace runs through his paintings. From 1964 he exhibited at the Galerie Breteau in Paris, and André Breton reproduced one of his works on the cover of the review La Brèche. Action surréaliste.
Exhibitions and collections
- Galerie Breteau, Paris, 1964
- Uppsala Konstmuseum (Sweden), 25 May to 5 September 2019
- Art brut. Dans l’intimité d’une collection, Grand Palais, Paris, 20 June to 21 September 2025
- Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou (Bruno Decharme donation, 2021): Châtelaine espagnole, 1964, gouache on cardboard; Portrait de M. Simon, 1969; Grande figure, 1969
- Favourites: Art Brut, Naive Art, Art Singulier, Galerie Les Yeux Fertiles, Paris, 15 March to 13 April 2024