André Cottavoz (French, 1922–2012)
«André Cottavoz was born on July 22nd, 1922, in Saint Marcellin in Isère, first child of the young Marguerite (she is hardly 18 years old then) and of her husband Paul Cottavoz. André, called « Doudou » by his grandmother (nickname that he will assume all his life) expresses his passion for painting as soon as he is a teenager. Indeed, he is 14 when his mother surprises him copying a landscape from the « Illustration » gazette. Practicing herself watercolour, she encourages him in this way, buys colors to him and takes him to paint in the nature with her.She gives him a precious advice which he will never forget: « Paint what you like, a bridge, a tree, a reflection on the water and forget the rest. » He also benefits from Michel Gaudet’s advice, a friend of Renoir living in the area, and regularly works « sur le motif » (from nature) with him, to the great displeasure of his father opposed to a future career as an artist.

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