P. Gaston Rigaud was born April 4, 1874 in Bordeaux. He studied with Albert Maignan and with Bonnat. Sharing a studio in Montmartre with Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, he became a member of this unique society of painters. He relied totally on teaching as a source of income. He held on to his purest convictions of the plein air style until his death.

Rigaud was a sincere and courageous painter who did not attempt to take a short cut. With patient and firm resolve, master of an excellent pencil and well-executed brush, he presented the numerous and successive steps taken in the form of studies. Rigaud embodied a robust and mystic nature, a self-willed talent, and brought to life by beauty, France, the harmony of her landscape and architecture.

The influence exerted by Monet, Sisley and the impressionists, definitely brought freedom to Rigaud. He became enchanted with the Romanesque and gothic churches as well as the potency and natural beauty of the French countryside.

Rigaud became a member of the Society des Artistes Francais in 1906. After his appointment, he began exhibiting in the Society’s Salon exhibitions and with the Independents. In 1920, Rigaud was invited to exhibit at the Salons de Automne at the Tuileries where he was awarded a Silver medal. In 1923, Rigaud was awarded a Gold medal.

Museums:

• Le Musee Carnavalet a Paris;
• Musees d’Angouleme, de Bordeaux, La Tour du Pin, Le Mans, Limoges et Mulhouse.

Bibliography:

• E. Benezit Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs;
• Jean Rigaud, a biography by Jean Dueros, prefaced by Charles Durand-Ruel, 1976;
• L’Art et les artistes, Revue d’art Ancien et Moderne des deux mondes. 5 annee, No.49, April 1909, pp. 23-28;
• Notes d’ Art et D”Archeologie, Revue de la Societe de Saint-Jean, No. 2 February 1909, pp.27-28;30