Françoise Collandre

Françoise Collandre was born in Paris. Since a very young age she revealed a calling to draw, having taken her first nude course when she was only twelve. She later attended the “Charpentier Academy", studied at the “Ecole Nationale Súperier dês Métiers d´Art de Paris” and graduated in “Art Graphiqe d´Estienne”. She attended some workshops such as “Mac Avoy” and “Beaux Arts” in Paris, and studied free figuration in “Montparnasse”.

She worked in project modeling, as artistic director in an editor and, at last, independent illustrator, all of her activities being related to her passion…drawing.

Nowadays she dedicates herself to painting her favorite themes, intimate environments where her characters and their imaginaries move. She works the colors with brush and spatula in a free chromatic harmony, tempered by a rigorous composition which reveals her joy of living and the serenity of her inner world. She develops a unique form of artistic expression which can be defined as “free figurative”, as her works, being figurative, are not limited to the representation of reality, but evolve in undefined and intimate spaces.

Françoise Collandre began to expose in 1981 at the Paris “Salon d´Autonne” and has not stopped since. With the growing recognition of the quality of her artistic production, she was invited to participate in multiple collective and individual expositions, the most important being: 1983, “Salon Nacional Beaux Arts” in Paris; 2000, her first presence in New York, at the “Greeley Square Gallery”; 2001, 1st Prize at the “Salon de Montgeron”; 2002 she participated in the “Art 2000” in Paris and won the Main Prize at the “San Saint-Maurice”; 2005/06/07/08/09, she exposed at various French galleries, as well as at the “Gallery du Soleil” in New York and the “Galerie Cigarini” in Geneva; 2010, presents her work at “Allarts Gallery” in Lisbon – Portugal. 2010/12/13 at “Canfin Gallery" in New York. In recent years, in several galleries in France and also in Switzerland and Belgium.