Bernard Cathelin was a Paris-born French painter and a member of the School of Paris alongside artists such as Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Dufy and Brianchon. After volunteering for military service in the Second World War at age 26, he studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in the studio of Maurice Brianchon, the painter of ‘Poetic Reality’ and an influential member of the Salon d’Automne committee. Cathelin’s preferred subjects were still life, landscapes and portraits of women.

After graduating, he taught at the school until 1953 and travelled widely in search of inspiration, visiting Mexico, Russia, Japan, Italy and Spain. His richly textured, vividly coloured oil paintings and lithographs featured in more than 50 exhibitions. In 1997, the Musée de Valence dedicated a major retrospective to him, which set new attendance records, reflecting the enduring popularity of his work.