Jean Louis Bouvier (1 June 1924 – 15 January 2022) was a French painter.
The son of Jacques Bouvier and of the embroiderer Thérèse Bouvier, he studied at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts and the École des langues orientales. Associated with the artists Maurice Loutreuil, Constant Le Breton, Louis Valtat, and Houdoin, Jean Bouvier engaged in decorative work in his youth (stained-glass windows for Sainte-Reine in Levallois) and apprenticed in fresco painting with the artist Léon Toublanc. However, it was primarily with Jean Fournier, Nirode Mazumdar, and Thierry Vernet that he developed his artistic practice. Vernet introduced him to the Polish painter Józef Czapski and the travel writer Nicolas Bouvier.
His works include unhurried, soft-hued paintings of natural landscapes in Perche, street scenes from Paris, New York City and Venice, and nude portraits, including many of his wife Anne Campbell. They have been described as inviting "a slow, attentive gaze, where the painting neither imposes itself nor demands explanation, but is instead inhabited, unfolding gradually within a space of calm and shared concentration".
He was a member of the Salon d'Automne for many years.
Describing his work, Bouvier wrote
Exhibitions Exhibitions accompanied by a catalogue include: Galerie Aittouarès, 2001 Galerie Nicolas Deman in Paris, 2006 Prieuré de Mayanne, 2009 Galerie Almond Hartzog in San Francisco, 2011 Mairie du IVe in Paris and Galerie Berthet Aittouarès, 2018 Galerie Cyril Guerniéri, 2023 Galería Plaza del Gato, Madrid 2026
Bibliography Henri Raynal (2018), Infidélité par amour. Sur la peinture de Jean Bouvier. Phœnix (29), pp. 138–140. Jean Bouvier (2006), La lumière discrète d'une œuvre oubliée : Louis Houdoin (1883–1966). Revue historique et archéologique du Maine (CLVII), pp. 97–108.
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