Philippe Vasseur was born in November 1954 in Lisieux, France. Woodworking, his family's craft, was his earliest inspiration and made an indelible impression on his young mind. He realized early on that his ambitions would one day be manifested through work he would create with his own hands.
At eighteen, Vasseur left Normandy For London to enroll in the London Academy of Drawing. A year later he was admitted into the prestigious Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied drawing and art history. His work received Almost immediate recognition. While he was still in school, his drawings were exhibited in Parisian galleries. In 1976, Gallimard, famous book publisher of classical literature by such authors as William Styron, Truman Capote and Caldwell, attracted millions of readers and placed the twenty-one year-old visionary on the map by creating engaging jacket covers with his images.
In the following years, Masseur felt the urge to paint. He moved to Normandy in 1983, where he studied traditional landscapes and frequented museums to observe Impressionism. Within three years he would enjoy his first sell-out exhibition of paintings. He later returned to Paris and lived in the Cite des Arts, an artist community, where his oils were prominently displayed in a significant number of shows and consequently received great attention. Since 1990, several distinguished Parisian galleries have shown his work and now vie to play host to Vasseur's intriguing works. Public interest has also grown to such extent that whether in Paris or New York, not a single signed canvas by Vasseur survives on a gallery wall.
Unparalleled, Vasseur's work bears definition through its appeal. Vasseur is much more than a mere academic classicist. His years of study an evident in his work, but something far more ethereal is at play. With his classical training serving as a framework, Vasseur opens a world of possibilities in each canvas. He gently explores time, the great condition of human existence, while the viewer finds himself enthralled in the beauty of what is all at once ambiguous and specific. The stories in Vasseur's paintings may change from day to day, yet one cannot help but sense that a greater story has been in place since the very beginning. Without question, it is the recognition of this delightful dichotomy that continues to push Vasseur into the spotlight. |