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Raphy, painter
Raphy's unique painting style blends impressionism, subjective figuration, expressionism, realism, surrealism, abstraction and lyricism, resulting in works of brilliant polychromy, both spiritual and moving.
His paintings, punctuated by music, focus on nature, life, the moon, the creation of the world, faith, legends, birds, the wind, the sea, storms, and inner journeys.
“Raphy's painting immediately grips the viewer with the perfection of the technique. Tasty material, without ever an exaggeration of thickness coming to taint with suspicion the play of highlights on tones obtained most often thanks to the skilful use of glaze. This masterful manipulation of color is just one of the many assets available to the author. His manual ease allows him to express without hesitation an inner poetry which, as far as we are concerned, has deeply touched us.
Michel Boutin - the Art Lover
The birth of stars
The Moon once told me
Raphy began by taking drawing classes for six years at MONTPARNASSE 80 with Henri-Georges Adam, a fine arts professor who worked with Giacometti and Picasso. The search for the affirmation and originality of his style was lengthy. He painted without exhibiting for ten years, until 1969. His first solo exhibition took place in Paris in 1972 at the R.G. gallery.
His works were noted and appreciated by critics, especially by Henri Heraut. From then on, he was invited to exhibit for ten years in his group at the Salon des Artistes Français. He also regularly participated in the Salon d'Automne in Paris.
In 1984, the City of Paris commissioned him to create a mosaic to decorate the swimming pool on Rue Vitruve (Paris's 20th arrondissement), and a solo exhibition was held at the 2nd arrondissement Town Hall. He received the Silver Medal from the City of Paris. This distinction was followed in 1988 by the Grand Prix de France des Arts Plastiques, the First Prize at the Biarritz Art Festival in 1992 and the Medal of Honor from the city of La Baule in 1994.
For Raphy, music is both a source of inspiration and a central theme of his work; a large number of painting titles refer directly to a musical work or a musician: Wagner, Schubert, Sibelius, Beethoven, Mahler, Dvorak, Liszt, Messiaen... For Raphy, the rhythm of a painting is a fundamental notion "it gives it its style and its character". His painting is a hymn to nature and the entire universe: light, matter, life, spirit and faith. The theme of nature is expressed in the sea, birds, fish. It extends to the cosmos, the origin of life, the creation of the world and the moon.
Raphy paints standing up in oil on canvas with a knife. He comes and goes, judging from close up, from afar in complete freedom, and inspiration arrives, he himself doesn't quite know how. Suddenly he leaves the canvas there, then picks it up again with a more severe gaze. He works continuously on several canvases at the same time, constantly refining them for years. He persists with them until they please him in every way.
It's difficult to classify Raphy into a particular style or movement, nor to find analogies among the work of various contemporary abstract painters. He has his own style, unlike anything painted in the past, but without denying that past.
He presents his works without any commentary, which he would consider indecent. It's up to us to gradually guess his secret intentions.
Raphy passed away in 2022 at the age of 95, continuing to paint until his final days. He leaves behind a limited number of works, just over a hundred paintings created over a period of 60 years.
He chose —throughout his life— to paint without having to submit to the constraints of the art market or dealers.
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