Philip Bouchard (French b. 1952)
Born in Egypt in 1952 as the son of parents in the French diplomatic service, Bouchard spent his childhood in Lebanon and Bahrain. Aged eight, Bouchard was sent to prep school in England, and went on to attend Downside Boarding School. He graduated from London University with a degree in Modern Languages in 1973. Having received no previous training as a painter, Bouchard discovered during his time at London University his supreme gift of painting. His early works are greatly inspired by Surrealism, in particular by Magritte and Dali. He exhibited his first painting in 1971, at the International Amateur Exhibition which led to a major succesfull first one-man show at the Art Yomiuri Gallery in Paris in 1974. In 1976, Bouchard submitted work to the Salon des Comparaisons.
In 1978 he was invited by General Hashim Said Hashim to come and paint in Saudi Arabia. Bouchard stayed for two years, painting in the Riyadh district of Sulaymaniah and across the desert, sketching his first Oriental landscapes. During his time in Saudi Arabia, Bouchard exhibited his work at the Riyadh Palace Hotel. The paintings from this trip are almost biblical in quality. They picture groups of travellers exploring the vastness of the desert and solitary dreamers gazing out over surreal horizons. Philip Bouchard: 'I love the Middle East. It was there that I started to paint more classically. I had found landscapes I was looking for and discovered the beauty and the importance of desert dawns and sunsets, and the wonderful light.his return to London, Bouchard exhibited at the Margaret Fisher Gallery (1981) and at the Patrick Seale Gallery (1982). High numbers of important private commissions prevented Bouchard from gathering enough work to exhibit regularly. In the 1990's he showed exclusively with Whitford and Hughes (1991, 1992). In 1992 eight of his paintings were used by Liberty's of Regent Street for their display windows. In 2005 Bouchard had a show at the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath and ashow at the Cheltenham Art Gallery is planned for later this year. His painting of the Houses of Parliament, 'The Open Debate' was on display at the Palace of Westminster in London in 2008. At present, Bouchard is working on a complete set of coloured drawings for all the colleges in Oxford.
Private collections
H.M. The Sultan of Brunei
H.M. The Sultan of Oman
H.H. Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki Al-Saud
Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sulaiman
Sheikh Ahmed Al-Sulaiman
General Hashim Said Hashim
Dr Abdullah Masry
The late Sheikh Ghazi Zeiny
Al Bank Al Saudi Al Fransi
Bibliography
From Surrealism to Orientalism. The Influence of Arabia on the Work of an Artist, M & M Arts, London, 1985.
Dawn in the Desert, Immel Publishing, London, 1985.
Philip Bouchard: l'Artiste malgré Lui. Introduction by Rupert Bates, Malaga, 1996.