Under the Brush of Rex-Barrat" exhibition

An exhibition focusing on the life and work of Rex Barrat, landscape painter.

Born in Varzy in 1914, Rex-Barrat is a key figure in the town in more ways than one. Taking over his grandfather's
his grandfather's photography studio, he entered the intimacy of all the people of Varzy, capturing births, communions
and weddings. As a painter, he quickly established himself as one of the Nivernais
in the Nivernais region. He often said that he owed his vocation to the artist Alfred Garcement,
who gave him a box of paints and taught him the rudiments of drawing. After a
Paris to study decorative arts and painting, he completed his artistic education by becoming a pupil of
Claude Rameau, who was nicknamed the "painter of the Loire". Following in
master, Rex devoted himself almost exclusively to depicting the landscapes of his native Haut-Nivernais region.
native region. From 1942, when he had his first solo exhibition in Nevers at the Galerie Contencin, his vibrant, oblique brushstrokes, recognisable in his paintings, became his trademark.
his vibrant, oblique brushstrokes, instantly recognisable, with their powerful colours enamelled with a touch of ultramarine blue.
immediately met with a success that has never been denied since.