1928 - 1991

The Portrait Painter

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There was Van Dongen of course, his elder by half a century, whose style he loved to pastiche. Of course the 'socialite painter' has always aroused jealousies in other artists that can obscure his talent (he could earn his living after all!). But how could one criticise Vincent Roux for practising a pictorial genre that also attracted Renoir, Whistler, Vuillard, Klimt, Balthus and Bacon (without mentioning the Old Masters) ?

Vincent was unquestionably attracted to the Beautiful, the Rich and the Famous, and his pet vice was snobbery. But this snobbery was secretly overlaid by a strong Proustian sense of irony. In the midst of the ultra-rich Saint Tropez fauna where he felt completely at home, he would make his choice - frequenting the indispensable crowd because he was obliged to and reserving his friendship for a happy few, such as Hélène and Micha, Eliette, Alice, Marinette, Carole, Christiane, Annie...... to mention but a few by their first names.

 

A friend to royalty and celebrities of all sorts, he painted their portraits with joy. It is true that some of these works were little more than pure brio. However, what a wonderful museum we would have had if the artist had kept a replica of each of the likenesses he painted and sold before the paint had dried. In France we need a National Portrait Gallery too. In the way that the musée of Toulon did for a memorable exhibition, we should reconstruct some of the studios or homes that our Van Dyck of the 1960-80s created, not so much as love nests for fleeting encounters but rather as jewel cases in which to enshrine those whom he intended to possess... by adonising them...

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Jean-Michel ROYER