Collection: James Coignard

James Coignard was born in Tours, France in 1925. He studied at the Ecole des Arts Dècoratifs in Nice, and later apprenticed under the well-known painter Marchand des Raux. In both his mixed media on canvas and his works on paper, James Coignard is known for his vibrant colors and technical versatility as a painter, ceramist, etcher, and sculptor.

Coignard achieves a deep, heavy texture as a distinctive trait in his art.

In the beginning of his career, Coignard explored his painting and ceramic style and developed a meticulous method. In the early 60’s, he began to explore sculpture as he worked with glass and bronze. The jumping off point for Coignard was when Henri Goetz developed the carborundum process of printmaking in the late 60’s and taught the technique to Coignard along with Max Papart, Joan Miró, Antoni Clavé, and others. Etching then became a focal point in his work.

James Coignard died in 2008 in Mougins, France. He was a prolific painter as can be seen through his vast amount of work that is shown in museums and collections across the globe such as Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA; British Museum, London, England; Musée d'Art Moderne de Shiga, Shiga, Japan; Musée de Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, France; Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA; Musée d’Histoire et d’Art, Luxembourg, Luxembourg; and Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montréal, Canada and many more.