Raymond Douillet

Raymond Douillet was born on July 20, 1947, in Hautmont, in the North of France, on the very day the Tour de France arrived in town. A contemporary surrealist, Douillet’s work is connected to a long lineage of artistic ancestors including Hieronymus Bosch, René Magritte, Giorgio de Chirico, Marcel Duchamp, and Yves Tanguy.

Douillet received his first diploma in Fine Arts from the Institut de France’s Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1970 and, the following year, received the Prix de Collioure. His many distinctions include the Prix de la Casa de Velázquez, the Prix Wildenstein, the Prix Paul Chabas, the Prix Fould-Stirbey, and the Gold Medal of the Société des Artistes Français. His biographical information is included in the Benezit Dictionary of Artists, a major reference used by museums, auction houses, historians, and dealers.

Like Hieronymus Bosch, whom he considers one of his closest artistic ancestors, Douillet places himself in the roles of philosopher, social satirist, cultural historian, and patron of the absurd. An avid reader of history, folklore, mythology, philosophy, and literature, he is particularly drawn to hermetic and experimental texts. These influences come together in paintings that are exceptionally detailed, imaginative, and layered with symbolism.

Douillet frequently explores the relationship between verbal and physical expression, as well as the similarities and contrasts between the English and French languages. His works often contain a playful element of double entendre, inviting viewers to look beyond the surface and discover their own interpretations.

His connection to the artistic history of Northern France extends back centuries. Hautmont is separated from the nearby town of Maubeuge by the Sambre River, the birthplace of Jan Gossaert, also known as Jean de Mabuse (c. 1478–1532). Gossaert helped introduce the spirit and forms of the Italian Renaissance into Northern Gothic art. Centuries later, Douillet unknowingly followed a similar artistic path, creating a fascinating connection across time and place. The Sambre also connects Douillet to René Magritte, flowing through nearby Charleroi, where Magritte’s early artistic development took place.

Douillet works from his studio in an old coaching inn surrounded by the fields of a French farming community. The people who populate his paintings are rarely professional models; instead, they are family members, close friends, and people from the surrounding community. Their poses, movements, and expressions become part of the architectural structure of his compositions, giving his fantastical worlds a distinctly human foundation.

Douillet has been a member of the Salon des Artistes Français since 1975 and the Salon d’Automne since 1978. His paintings are held in important corporate and private collections around the world.

Coming Soon!

Raymond Douillet: The Art of Thinking

Available Paintings

Graphite on Paper

SOLD ARCHIVES

La Nuit et le Jour

The theme of night and day is equally pervasive throughout Western culture, particularly since it is entwined with the moon and sun. Certain processes were supposed to be done in the day or at night; moreover, illustrations of the moon and sun stood for specific materials and processes. “Night and Day” is a gathering of ancient images that carry multiple levels of meaning for the modern individual. Read more..

Les 4 Éléments

The concept that four classical elements constitute everything in the universe dates as far back as the fifth century. The elements were central to the alchemical hermetic science of the middle ages. Douillet's large scale painting, “The 4 Elements”, with its four-sided composition, might have been painted on the ceiling of a fifteenth-century chateau built by an alchemical adept, yet in its broader approach it also speaks to our current cultural state. Read more...

Grand Ouevre 2012

Details of Le Grasdimas de Blaise Ra are below

Please click on thumbnail below to see full image.

Tableau peint par Débarras, artiste dont Raymond Roussel (grand amateur lui aussi de carnaval) nous parle à plusieurs reprises dans ses livres. [Note: Douillet later revised his comment, "Tableau peint par Débarras en collaboration avec Jerjeck."]

Au dos de cette toile, cette inscription: "Il est conseillé d'aller à l'Abbaye Saint Victor de Marseille et à Almonacid Del Marqesado en Espagne mais surtout de lire,lire, lire et relire Alcofribas Nasier et quelques autres."

Translation:

Picture painted by Débarras, artist about whom Raymond Roussel (also a great lover of carnival) speaks to us again and again in his works. [Note: Débarras is a fictional creation of Roussel in his story "Among the Blacks". He is a rather shabby but brilliant artist. Jerjeck, his "collaborator", is another Roussel creation in Locus Solus -- a once-dead sculptor "resurrected" by a surreal scientist.]

On the back of this canvas, this inscription: "it is recommended to go to the Abbey Saint Victor of Marseilles and to Almonacid Del Marqesado in Spain but especially to read, to read, to read and to reread Alcofribas Nasier [Rabelais] and some others."

Sold Archives

Please click on thumbnail below to see full image.

Events