Philippe Artias (Feurs-France 1912 - Numana-Italy 2002).

Artias was a sensitive young man, a dreamer afflicted with poor health.

Although apparently lacking in tenacity and determination, he was in fact a fighter, first in sport, then, during the Second World War, earning himself a medal for his bravery and courage in the ranks of the French Resistance.

He became interested in painting in the 1930s, the time when Picasso was moving away from Cubism towards a more figurative approach (see 'Bathers' painted in 1928) and Matisse finished his work 'The Dance' in 1932.

His first exhibition was in 1945 when he exhibited a number of almost abstract nudes and landscapes in Paris.

But the real turning point in his artistic career came in 1948 when he met Picasso and moved to Vallauris where the artist lived.

There he remained for the next five years, Picasso's friend in conversation and study.

Artias said:'To witness the life of Picasso was the greatest lesson in painting I could have had'.

Also a friend of Pignon, he dedicated himself to portrait painting and ceramics, helped by the enlightening presence of Picasso.

Halfway through the 1950s, Artias went back to landscapes, then nudes and finally nude-landscapes which enabled him to combine the constant flux of nature with humankind in movement.

These works were displayed in Switzerland and Paris.

Between 1950 and 1973 he was present at the Salon de Mai.

In 1963 he began his first studies of Goya's Royal Family, a great cycle of paintings concluded in the 1980s with more than thirty oils and 200 preparatory water colours.