Claude Venard, born March 21, 1913 in Paris and died December 30, 1999 in Sanary-sur-Mer, was a French painter belonging to the post-Cubist movement. At the age of seventeen, he decided to devote himself to painting and briefly entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which he quickly left to pursue a six-year training course at the École des Arts Appliqués. In 1936, he worked as a restorer at the Louvre Museum and in 1938 participated in the "2nd Salon of the New Generation" at the Billiet-Vorms gallery, where Henri Héraut's manifesto Rupture marked the beginning of his career. Mobilized during the Second World War, he devoted himself fully to painting after his demobilization. From 1945 to 1963, he participated in numerous salons such as the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon des Tuileries, and the Salon de Mai, of which he was a founding member. His post-Cubist style evolved towards intense chromaticism and rich, creamy materials. His works have been exhibited throughout the world, notably at the Tate Gallery in London, the Whitney Museum in New York, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Museum of Montreal, the Museum Düsseldorf, the Museum of São Paulo, the Museum of Mexico City, the Museum of Palm Springs, the Museum of Basel, the Museum München, the Museum of Tokyo, the Museum of Buenos Aires, and the Museum of Dallas.
