Lotton Gallery | 4/1-4/30 | Chicago, IL

Valéry Vecu Quitard: Animal Instincts

Lotton Gallery hosts its first exhibition for French artist Valéry Vecu Quitard.

French artist Valéry Vecu Quitard’s love of animals is on full display in his whimsical realistic paintings. His works, which are done in a Trompe l’Oeil style where the portrait of the animal is silhouetted within a hand-painted wall or frame, anthropomorphize any number of creatures from rabbits and birds to mice and tigers. The pieces are typically painted on a smaller scale and are “meant to be a hymn to benevolence, naiveté and bonhomie.”The General and His Courier, oil on canvas, 9½ x 13"

Quitard says that the artwork is also “an ode to the animal genre whereby they no longer imitate man, but fully and consciously assume human attitudes and feelings, which I provide them with and which they convey very well. I am particularly sensitive to animal rights and belong to associations that support and improve them.”

Throughout the month of April, Chicago-based Lotton Gallery will host its first exhibition for Quitard. On view will be around 15 paintings that are humorous and finely executed.Eurasian Blue Tit with Iris, oil on canvas, 9½ x 7½"

Butterfly Trainer III, oil on canvas, 11 x 9"

Among his pieces in the exhibition is Thunderbirds II, a painting that highlights the artist’s creativity depicting a dog driving a car in outer space. Another of his works, Butterfly Trainer II, shows a rabbit dressed in ringmaster-style clothing as butterflies float through hoops he’s holding.

Several realistic works with traditional still life aspects, such as Eurasian Blue Tit with Iris and Goldfinch with Pomegranate I, will also be included in the show. These pieces depict birds perched on tree branches or flower pots, but without the human characteristics his magical realistic works have.Owl with Two Teacups, oil on canvas, 11 x 9"

“I am never short of inspiration and enjoy a wealth of ideas and subjects,” Quitard explains. “Time is my worst enemy, as my paintings take a long time to create, but my creative flow is never exhausted. My favorite subjects spring from culture and popular folklore covering a wide range—tales, fables, literature, cinema, gastronomy, history, word games and more.”Thunderbirds II, oil on canvas, 13 x 9½"

Quitard says collectors often enjoy his work because it has, “a certain type of originality, not without a touch of naiveté, fantasy, symbolism and tenderness, mixed with a palette of subtle colors. Collectors are responsive to the association of the Baroque style to poetry, and to the old-fashioned and childish universe to moderate surrealism. They like the period costumes, constantly portrayed in each of my paintings and worn by my animals in childish poses and assumed human characteristics.” —

Lotton Gallery • 900 N. Michigan Avenue, Level 6 • Chicago, IL 60611 • (312) 664-6203 • www.lottongallery.com