About the artist:

In 1978 he completed the stained glass windows of the church "Notre Dame de Bon Voyage (Our Lady of Happy Travels)", in Port de Bouc. He was also commissioned by the Alpine Maritime Region to paint the work, "Travaux des ChampsWork in the Fields)". He has held numerous exhibits in France: Grenoble, Aix en Provence, Cannes, Marseille, Lyon, and Megeve; and overseas: Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Switzerland and Japan (Gallery Mainichi). He currently enjoys permanent exhibits in Cannes, Lyon, Salon-de-Provence, Grenoble, Toulon and Annecy. His impressive resume also includes illustrations for Les Cahiers d'Art, Regards vers Ailleurs, Empreintes (The Notebook of Art, A Look Beyond, printmaking). He is a self-taught artist who has aligned himself with the discipline of the "Fauvres", or savages -- a school of artists who lived at the turn of the twentieth century, which included Matisse, Cezanne, Dufy, and Vlaminck. They painted in vivid non-authentic color, and Emile Bellet has mastered this discipline with an impasto knife accentuating this color with the elongated forms of the mannerists. The familiar female figure used throughout his work is symbolic of his impression of femininity. She represents all women, and for this reason has no facial expression. She is timeless and ageless, and universal. Patrice de la Perriere, Director of the Art Revue, Univers des Arts (Universe of the Arts) says of Bellet: "Les femmes rouges de Bellet, evanescentes, s'exposent avec magnificence dans la fragrance d'une lumiere d'ete. Qu'elles soient debout, pres d'une fenetre s'ouvrant sur un paysage romantique, ou bien assises langoureusement dans un interieurconfortable, les "femmes" de Bellet n'en finissent plus de vous attirer dans un monde onirique" Leur presence, indiscutablement, apporte au spectateur une reelle emotion" "The ethereal, red women of Bellet magnificently show themselves in the fragrance of summer light. Whether they are standing near a window opening onto a romantic countryside, or sitting languorously in a comfortable interior, Bellet's women never cease to draw you into a dreamlike world. Their presence, undeniably brings a real emotion to the viewer." Emile Bellet delights in his work, as does a peasant in a field of Provence. Both treat their labors with love and respect; and his body of work reflects this feeling.