Jacques de la Croix (born 25 April 1937), better known as Raphaël Toussaint, is a French painter residing in the Vendée department. Landscape designer, he practices "poetic reality". His motto as a painter is:
Biography In 1956, while studying classical singing, Jacques de la Croix, the future Raphaël Toussaint, met the one who became his wife in 1959. As a result, he met René Robin: the father of his future wife who ran a store in La Roche-sur-Yon which later became the Robin gallery. For Raphaël Toussaint, this meeting was a determining element that influenced the course of his life.
Called to do his military service, it was in 1957 that he embarked in civilian clothes on the Sidi Bel Abbès II bound for Oran (Algeria) where he disembarked on 13 July. He studied at the Nouvion military camp near Oran at the 21st RTA. On 16 November, he was assigned to the 2nd RI 3rd company, at "ferme 35" in the Aumale region south of Algiers. Seriously wounded during the night of 8–9 April, he was repatriated to France in May and permanently retired as a major war invalid.
After this injury, Jacques de la Croix could no longer continue studying the classical singing he had practised since his adolescence. His career as a singer halted, he decided to devote himself entirely to painting, helped by his father-in-law, René Robin, and he changed his name to become Raphaël Toussaint. With René Robin, he came into direct contact with the landscape and began his first period. His painting Holidays in Saint Raphaël would determine the profile of what became the definitive expression of his art. René Robin directed him towards naive art, because he felt that his vocation is there thanks to his patience and meticulousness. Until 1970, he worked under the secrecy of anonymity in order to make sure that his choice to devote himself entirely to painting was not an adventure without a future. In 1965, he began his first exhibitions in different galleries and that he was selected the following year to participate in the Salon "Comparaisons" at the Grand Palais (Paris). A few years passed where he affirmed his talent and in 1971 he was appointed Member of the Salon d'Automne. "Be congratulated and thanked, your work is beneficial, it carries within it the true values of life, the quiet and firm certainty that happiness is in simplicity, and not in money which is a lure. To build a work such as yours, in our times of anguish and iron, dear Raphaël Toussaint, is to bring us closer to the angels ... " declares Édouard Georges Mac-Avoy, the president of Salon d'Automne, in 1990.
His life as a professional and official painter then came to light. In 1973, he formalized his pseudonym Raphaël Toussaint by means of a notarial deed. In a publication in 2004, the art collector and critic Henri Griffon considers him a symbol of this movement of expression of modern primitive. "He is not an imitator, nor a follower, he is Toussaint. On the walls of a gallery, the informed eye will recognize the invoice of a great master", thus estimates Henri Griffon.
Paris-Grand Palais-Exposition 1982 "The Genius of the Naive"
The following year, at the Salon de la Nationale des Beaux Arts, he was appointed Associate by President François Baboulet.
He exhibited his painting, On a beautiful winter morning. This painting was stolen from the Grand Palais in Paris during the Salon de la Nationale des Beaux Arts and never found.
To pay tribute to his Mentor René Robin, whom he includes in all his paintings, Raphaël Toussaint publishes a wax seal which is affixed to the back of each of his works as a second signature.
Wanting to give a new dimension to his career, he wrote and implemented in 1990 a work of art The very rich hours of Raphaël Toussaint, prefaced by various personalities from the world of the arts including Paul Guth. The latter writes: "Raphaël Toussaint, a naive painter? ... A problem that bothers him. In France, country of labels, we stuck this one on the overcoat. And to me too. Him, in painting, me in literature for my romantic cycle of the Naive. Labels twins. Did this naive title bother you? he asks me. I answer for both of us: yes and no. Naive does not mean silly, beta, idiotic. Naive comes from the Latin word , as on the day of his birth. The naive is the one who is born every day, and the world with him. It has the spirit of childhood, one of the treasures of Saint Francis of Assisi". He exhibited in numerous salons and galleries in France but also in particular in the United States (in Texas and Florida. In Paris, he exhibited at Galerie 93 du Faubourg Saint-Honoré for twenty-five years, between 1965 and 1991 (gallery closed). Locally, the Vendée department organized a major retrospective for his thirty years of painting (1964–1994). In 2001, the museum, opens its doors to him for a major exhibition "Landscape or a certain regard". He regularly takes part in the Parisian Salons of which he is a member.
Awards 2000 : Médaille de la ville de Paris 2004 : Chevalier des Arts et Lettres 2010 : Prix Francis Davis Millet
Exhibitions + Year Venue Location Description 1965 Biennale de la Loire-Atlantique La Baule Collective exhibition 1966 Galerie René Robin La Roche-sur-Yon Individual exhibition 1968 Paris Collective exhibition 1968-1969 Galerie Jannel Paris Permanent exhibit1968-1980 Galerie 93 et par le monde Paris Permanent exhibit 1971 Salon d'automne Paris Collective exhibition – Becomes a member of the Salon d'Automne1972-1979 Galerie Saint Dominique Lyon Permanent exhibit 1974 Salle de l'Ardoise verte Beauvoir-sur-Mer Ten years of painting – Individual retrospective exhibition 1975 Salle municipale Levallois-Perret Nanterre Collective exhibition - World Fair of Naive Painting 1979-1986 Phillips gallery Palm Beach-Dallas-Houston Permanent exhibit 1980-1981 Galerie Simon Chaput Les Sables-d'Olonne et Parthenay Permanent exhibit 1981 Musée La Roche-sur-Yon Exhibition « Figures » 1982 Musée La Roche-sur-Yon Individual exhibition - « Chemins - 50 years of painting and homage to the Salon yonnais » 1982 Grand Palais Paris Salon of Independent Artists "The genius of the naive" 1982 Phillips gallery Palm Beach "Two masters of primitive school" 1983 Nationale des beaux-arts Paris Exhibition and becomes a member 1983 Centre Neptune Nantes Exhibition "Air and Space" 1983-1985 Galerie « Arts Lésigny » Lésigny Permanent exhibit 1984 Galerie « Arts Lésigny » Lésigny Christmas Salon (guest of honor) 1984 La Rochelle Seventh Fine Arts Fair (guest of honor) 1984-1986 Salon International d'Art naïf (S.I.A.N) Paris Collective exhibition (see) Grand Palais 1985 Galerie « Café de la paix » Paris International pictorial meetings, "A moment of peace" 1986-1991 Galerie 93 Paris Permanent exhibit 1988 Salle de la Martelle Le Poiré-sur-Vie 1st painting salon, (Raphaël Toussaint and friends) 1989 Galerie le Vieux château Angers Salon d'Automne - Collective exhibition 1990 Salle de la mairie Cholet Collective exhibition - "30 contemporary painters" 1990 Peinture murale Le Poiré-sur-Vie The mayor Léon Darnis commissions a mural painting to complete in the heart of the city 1991-1994 Galerie cannoise Cannes Individual exhibition 1992 Nolan-Rankin gallery Houston Collective exhibition 1992 Musée Noirmoutier Jacques Oudin, senator of the Vendée, commissioned a painting for the museum 1992 Trésor public La Roche-sur-Yon Exhibition at the General Treasury 1992 Crédit Mutuel La Roche-sur-Yon Exhibition on lithography1993-1994 Galerie Colette Dubois Paris Collective exhibition 1993 Mairie du 9eme arr. Paris Third Biennial "Arts without time-Dreamlands" guest of honor 1994 Hôtel du dépt La Roche-sur-Yon "30 years of painting across the Vendée" Individual exhibition 1997-1998 Galerie du Mas d'Artigny Saint-Paul-de-Vence Individual exhibition 1999 Carrousel du Louvre Paris Exhibition of his painting "Hommage au Vendée Globe" at the Fine Arts salon 1999 Salon d'automne Paris Collective exhibition - Obtains the "Arts-Sciences-Lettres" vermeil medal. 1999-2000 Galerie du Dauphin Honfleur-Megève-Courchevel Collective exhibition 2000 Paris Collective exhibition 2000 Salon d'automne Paris Collective exhibition - Receives the silver cross of "French Merit and Dedication" 2000 Salon d'automne Paris Collective exhibition - Receives the medal of the city of Paris. 2001 Musée de l'Abbaye Saint-Croix Les Sables-d'Olonne Individual exhibition 31 March – 17 June "Landscapes, a certain look" 2001 Centre culturel Challans Arts week-end on the theme: lithography - guest of honour 2001 Musée de la poste Paris Exhibition: The most beautiful illustrated envelopes from 1750 to the present day 2001 Carrousel du Louvre Paris Exhibition Salon de la Nationale des Beaux Arts 2004 Galerie d'Art Élysée Paris Collective exhibition 2005 Théâtre Millandry Luçon Individual exhibition – Discover lithography 2006-2007 Galerie Villa Bellartéa Biarritz – Anglet Individual exhibition 2006 Grand Palais Paris Collective exhibition 2007 Galerie Brie-Comte-Robert "Christmas colours" exhibition - Guest of honour 2008 La Roche-sur-Yon Collective exhibition "The Vendeans and the sea, human adventures" 2009 Galerie du Sénéchal Les Lucs-sur-Boulogne Gallery opening - Guest of honour 2010 Carrousel du Louvre Paris Collective exhibition in the Salon des Beaux Arts from December 16 to 19 under the high patronage of the President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy. Raphaël Toussaint is awarded the Germain David-Nillet prize for his painting Hiver sur un domaine Vendéen. 2010 Lexus Gallery La Roche-sur-Yon Lexus Gallery presents in December, the exhibition of Raphaël Toussaint "Féerie de Noël" with his painting Vouvant - La Tour Mélusine - La valse des patineurs (The skaters' waltz). 2010 Librairie La Roche-sur-Yon Presentation during the month of May of the painting by Raphaël Toussaint, Beatification of Pope John Paul II (Lourdes. La Grotte de Massabielle), H.S.B. x 2015 Hôtel du département La Roche-sur-Yon Exhibition at the Departmental Council of the Vendée - Golden Jubilee: 50 Years of Painting - Hôtel du Département from 4 May to 3 July 2015 – La Roche-sur-Yon
Written works Hommage to the Salon Yonnais - Municipal museum of La Roche-sur-Yon Book of art. On the occasion of a retrospective exhibition at the Conseil général de la Vendée
Illustrated agenda
Poems
References
Bibliography
Texte and photo of tableau Le Bouquet au chat by Raphaël Toussaint. The face of a landscaper from the Vendée through his works Les mariés, La route du bonheur and Virginie ou l'enfant à la marguerite by Raphaël Toussaint. From the art of the miniature painting to the art of the monumental as seen through the works Les mariés du Poiré-sur-Vie, La peinture murale du Poiré-sur-Vie and L'église de Saint Etienne du Brioullet by Raphaël Toussaint. Texts and photos of the works Maison de Maître et le vieux Four à chaux and Le puy du Fou sous la neige by Raphaël Toussaint. Texts and photos of the works Le Mont des alouettes au champ de blé de Raphaël Toussaint. Texts and photos of the work La Tour d'Arundel – Les Sables d'Olonne by Raphaël Toussaint. Texts and photos of the work Saint-Mars-des-Près sous la neige by Raphaël Toussaint. Texts and photos of the works Maison de Maître et le vieux Four à chaux and Le puy du Fou sous la neige by Raphaël Toussaint. Text and photo of the work La vieille église de Pouzauges en Vendée by Raphaël Toussaint. Texts and photos of the works Vendanges au Château de la Preuille and Le Château du Puy du Fou sous la neige by Raphaël Toussaint.
External links
Catalogue raisonné (Received catalogue) Exposition : Les voyages pittoresques de Raphaël Toussaint (Exhibition: The picturesque voyages of Raphaël Toussaint)