Jacques Poirier

Jacques Poirer (1928-2002) was a French master painter who lived in Paris near St Germain-des-Pres. His paintings were done in the realist "Trompe l'Oeil" style with a mastery and a poetry rarely seen in this genre. He came to painting quite late after a successful career as an illustrator. Poirier was a contemplative and although his subjects included a bric-a-brac of objects, antiques and other improbable unusable curiosities displayed in ever complex settings, the true subject of his art was natural light and the contemplation of its magical glow. His canvas included riddles and humour -sometimes self-deriding- was often present. He was arguably the best artist in the genre.