The delicate hand of François Fressinier is distinctly visible in his beautiful, sensitive renderings of humanity. His subjects’ primarily consist of Gallo-Roman imagery with embedded artifacts of the southwestern region of France.

Fressinier was born in Cognac, France on August 4, 1968.  His parents were portrait photographers with businesses in Central Africa and the Charente Maritime region of France.  François was greatly influenced by their aesthetic teachings.  His father had a tremendous reverence for the paintings of the Old Masters and guided his son into the exploration and creation of figurative and symbolic art.  François studied fine art at Ecole Brassartin Tours where he was exposed to the drawings, sketches and paintings of Rembrandt, Renoir, Courbet, Rubens and Delaunay. Drawing, painting and photography have been an integral part of his life from the very beginning.

Early in his youth, François was introduced to, and captivated by, many of the world’s greatest historic places.  Paris, Rome, Amsterdam and London were all at his doorstep.  The peace and serenity of Roman ruins and Gothic churches are clearly conveyed in his work.

“Each of my works of art hold a captured moment, a detail of the infinitely diverse occurrences of life. It is left to the observer to define the story that is portrayed.”

Over the last decade, François has refined his artistic style. It has been described as a modern amalgam of Neo-Classical, Classical Renaissance and Romanticism. His work reflects the influence of Rubens and Titian through his focus on the ethereal, romantic presence of sensuous women.

“My passion is to paint the human figure in all of its intricacies of beauty and life.  I am interested in projecting sentiments of love and romance, feelings of admiration and joy, with modern images reminiscent of the ancient world.”

The contemporary manner and picturesque enchantment that are embodied in the art of François Fressinier can be appreciated on many levels. The subtle beauty of his female figures, the gentile lifestyle they portray, the timeless faces of the mythological world he depicts — each says as much about our own hopes and dreams as about the ancient characters and events Fressinier portrays.

“The story that one creates from viewing a painting is extremely important to me.”

The men and women of Fressinier’s world are imbued with grace and beauty. They are stripped of artifice, of class or ranking.  All appear equal, in their work or at leisure.  Fressinier paints them all in their best light, and by doing so makes all of us feel good because we see so clearly in these paintings what is good about mankind and wondrous about life even in our fast-paced modern world.  Fressinier’s delicate and graceful paintings can be found in homes and private collections throughout the United States, Japan and Mexico; his originals and limited edition prints on canvas are all available here at Saper Galleries, in East Lansing, Michigan.

“My objective is to render classical subjects into the present as homage to the Old Masters; the emotion that this brings to me is what I wish to convey on canvas.”