# Armand Avril

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{{Short description|French painter and sculptor (1926–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Armand Avril
| image         =  Armand Avril (1a).jpg
| alt           = Three-quarter profile, colour Press shot, of a smiling, bespectacled, clean-shaven, elderly man, with thinning grey hair
| caption       = Avril in 2021
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|df=y|1926|12|02}}
| birth_place   = [Lyon](/source/Lyon), France
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|df=y|2025|11|01|1926|12|02}}
| death_place   = [Cotignac](/source/Cotignac), France
| occupation    = Painter, sculptor
| known_for     = 
| notable_works = 
}}

'''Armand Jérôme Avril''' ({{IPA|fr|aʁmɑ̃ avʁil|lang}}; 2 December 1926 – 1 November 2025) was a French painter and sculptor. Self-taught as an artist, he was inspired by African art, by the [assembled objects](/source/Assemblage_(art)) of [Louis Pons](/source/Louis_Pons), and by the art of [Gaston Chaissac](/source/Gaston_Chaissac), among others. Many of his artworks, which defy classification, are held in the permanent exhibition of the [Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon](/source/Museum_of_Fine_Arts_of_Lyon).

==Life and career==
thumb|upright|Avril's ''Mer à Cassis'' (1986)

Avril was born in [Lyon](/source/Lyon) on 2 December 1926; his mother was Corsican and his father from Paris. In the 1940s, he first worked as a plasterer and painter.<ref>{{cite book |date=2002 |title=Armand Avril, itinéraire, peintures et assemblages |language=fr |location=Villefranche-sur-Saône |publisher=Musée Dini et Association des amis d'Armand Avril |page=121 |oclc=401628327 }}</ref> His father, Marcel Avril, was a painter and a collector of African art, and was also a member of the [French Resistance](/source/French_Resistance).<ref name="TSS">{{cite web |work=Treger Saint Silvestre |date=2025 |title=Avril, Armand |url=https://www.tregersaintsilvestre.com/artists/armand-avril-2/ |access-date=6 November 2025 }}</ref> Marcel Avril was killed by the [Gestapo](/source/Gestapo) in 1944.<ref name="TSS" /><ref name="Ballester">{{cite book |last=Avril |first=Armand |url=https://worldcat.org/fr/title/314525934 |title=Après nous le déluge et vive la couleur! |date=2005 |publisher=Centre d'art La Malmaison |isbn=978-2-9520745-8-2 |location=Cannes |page=134 |language=fr |trans-title= |access-date=5 November 2025}}</ref>

After the war, Avril worked in different fields, including as a plaster-painter.<ref name="Le Progrès" /> He was self-taught as an artist,<ref name="AV">{{cite web |date=2025 |url=https://www.lartvues.com/montpellier-lartiste-armand-avril-lhonneur-dune-exposition-au-musee-dart-brut/ |title=Montpellier: l'artiste Armand Avril l'honneur d'une exposition au musée d'Art brut |language=fr |work=L'art vues }}</ref> copying paintings by artists such as [Jean Dufy](/source/Jean_Dufy), [Pierre Bonnard](/source/Pierre_Bonnard) and [Henri Matisse](/source/Henri_Matisse), at the [Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon](/source/Museum_of_Fine_Arts_of_Lyon) and the [Guimet Museum](/source/Guimet_Museum) in Paris. In 1957, he exhibited works in their styles at the Salon du Sud-Est.<ref name="Le Progrès" /> He joined the {{ill|Groupe Témoignage|fr|Témoignage (peinture)}} and first exhibited at Lyon's Galerie Folklore. As part of the group, he met artists such as [Jean Bertholle](/source/Jean_Bertholle), [Alfred Manessier](/source/Alfred_Manessier), [César Geoffray](/source/C%C3%A9sar_Geoffray), [Jean Le Moal](/source/Jean_Le_Moal), [Étienne Martin](/source/%C3%89tienne_Martin), and [François Stahly](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Stahly).<ref>{{cite book |last=Gavoty |first=Bernard |date=1989 |title=Marcel Michaud: Lyon 1933-1958, Stylclair, Groupe témoignage |language=fr |location=Lyon |publisher=Espace Lyonnais d'Art Contemporain |page=19 |oclc=47034508 }}</ref>

Avril travelled in Africa in 1960 for a year,<ref name="MBA Lyon" /><ref name="AV" /> where he met [Louis Pons](/source/Louis_Pons), an artist who included [assembled objects](/source/Assemblage_(art)) in his work. Avril also began a new way of expression in assemblages of objects in [bas-relief](/source/bas-relief), using waste material and discarded objects such as "bottle caps, clothespins, parts from children's toys, croquet balls, glue, nails and empty tin cans".<ref name="TSS" /><ref name="Ballester" />{{rp|136}} A critic wrote that he expressed himself through "poetic universe overflowing with humor and vitality".<ref name="AV" /><ref name="Lyon">{{cite book |date=2018 |title=Catalogue Raisonné du MBA de Lyon, Sculptures du XVIIe au XXe siècle |language=fr |location=Lyon |publisher=Somogy Editions d'Art |pages=478–479 |isbn=978-2757212691 |access-date=}}</ref>

When he met the art of [Gaston Chaissac](/source/Gaston_Chaissac) in Nantes, he was able to convince René Deroudille and Madeleine Rocher, curator at the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon to exhibit his works there in 1968. In 1973, he created a series of fantasy heads of artists such as [Kazimir Malevich](/source/Kazimir_Malevich), Matisse, [Man Ray](/source/Man_Ray), [Pablo Picasso](/source/Pablo_Picasso) and [Auguste Herbin](/source/Auguste_Herbin), as a tribute to Chaissac.<ref name="MBA Lyon" /> In 1975, he released the "Alignement" series, composed of several spherical works assembled into groups.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mba-lyon.fr/mba/sections/fr/expositions-musee/expositions-dossier/archive-expo-dossier/avril-armand/ |title=Armand Avril |work=Museum of Fine Arts Lyon |language=fr}}</ref> In 1985, an exhibition in a gallery in [Vence](/source/Vence) organized by Alphonse Chave showed his response to [Jean Dubuffet](/source/Jean_Dubuffet) and [art brut](/source/art_brut). In 2002, he acquired in Paris Bozo sculptures by fishermen from the banks of the [Niger](/source/Niger_River) in Mali, colourful and poetic, and matching his own works.<ref name="MBA Lyon" />

His "Mer à Cassis" series drew inspiration from [Wols](/source/Wols), based on his experience during World War II.<ref name="Lyon"/> His [tapestries](/source/Tapestry) bear witness to impressions from a trip to Indonesia with a technique known as ''[ikat](/source/ikat)''.<ref name="Ballester" />{{rp|137}}Later in life, he contributed significantly to the [Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon](/source/Museum_of_Fine_Arts_of_Lyon), where many works are featured in the permanent exhibition.<ref name="Le Progrès" /> A large exhibition there was dedicated to his art in 2008.<ref name="MBA Lyon">{{cite web |date=2 November 2008 |title=Armand Avril |url=https://www.mba-lyon.fr/en/node/1159 |work=[Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon](/source/Museum_of_Fine_Arts_of_Lyon) |language=fr |access-date=7 November 2025}}</ref>

Avril discovered the village of [Cotignac](/source/Cotignac), where he decided to make his residence. Life there changed his art gradually. He ran a workshop in the house, full of objects telling of his universe independent of fashion.<ref name="MBA Lyon" />

Avril died at home in Cotignac on 1 November 2025, at the age of 98.<ref name="Le Progrès">{{cite news |date=2 November 2025 |title=L'inclassable peintre lyonnais Armand Avril est décédé |url=https://www.leprogres.fr/culture-loisirs/2025/11/02/le-peintre-lyonnais-armand-avril-est-decede |newspaper=[Le Progrès](/source/Le_Progr%C3%A8s) |language=fr |access-date=5 November 2025}}</ref>

== Exhibitions ==
Exhibitions included:<ref name="Richter">{{cite web |date=2025 |title=Armand Avril |url=https://richterbuxtorf.ch/armand-avril/ |work=Richter Buxdorf |language=fr |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref>

* 2021: Musée d'Art Brut. Montpellier
* 2020: ''Avril et les Bozo''. Centre d'Art La Falaise. Cotignac.
* 2016: ''Arène-Avril-Valabrègue'', Centre d'art contemporain, Chateauvert
* 2010: Galerie Laurent de Puybaudet, Paris<!--<ref>[http://frichesdelart.blogspot.fr/2010/06/armand-avril.html exposition Avril 2010].</ref>-->
* 2008: [Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon](/source/Museum_of_Fine_Arts_of_Lyon)<ref name="MBA Lyon" />
* 2005: ''Après nous le déluge'', Malmaison de Cannes
* 2003: ''Peintures et assemblages (1962 à 2002)'', Le Tremblay, Centre National d'Art Contemporain / Musée Municipal de Rabastens
* 2003: ''Armand Avril'', [Musée d'Art Naïf – Max Fourny](/source/Mus%C3%A9e_d'Art_Na%C3%AFf_%E2%80%93_Max_Fourny), Paris<ref>[http://www.artaujourdhui.info/e13435-avril.html Armand Avril] artaujourdhui.info.</ref>
* 2002: Donation de Muguette et Paul Dini, et de l'Association Armand Avril, {{ill|Musée Paul-Dini|fr}}
* 1993: Espaces Culturels des Tours / {{ill|Musée Hébert (La Tronche)|lt=Musée Hébert|fr|Musée Hébert (La Tronche)}}, La Tronche 
* 1985: {{ill|Galerie Alphonse Chave|fr}}, Vence
* 1984: Maison du Tourisme, Auxerre
* 1983: Maison des expositions, Genas
* 1977: Galerie Pierre Robin, Paris
* 1973: Galerie John Craven, Paris
* 1972: Galerie du Manoir, La Chaux de Fonds (Suisse)
* 1970: Galerie Le Lutriin, Lyon

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.artnet.com/artists/armand-avril/ Armand Avril]—''Artnet''
* {{YouTube|f2Ex_a3PDTw|Armand Avril au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avril, Armand}}
Category:1926 births
Category:2025 deaths
Category:20th-century French male artists
Category:20th-century French painters
Category:20th-century French sculptors
Category:21st-century French male artists
Category:21st-century French painters
Category:21st-century French sculptors
Category:French male painters
Category:French male sculptors
Category:Painters from Lyon
Category:Sculptors from Lyon

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Armand Avril](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_Avril) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_Avril?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.