Claude Viallat

Claude Viallat (born 1936 in Nîmes, France) is a contemporary French painter. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montpellier from 1955 to 1959 and at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris from 1962 to 1963. In 1966, he adopted a process based on prints, developing a distinctive artistic approach characterized by the use of a rounded, almost cross-shaped rectangle on stretcherless canvases. Viallat is a founding member of the Supports/Surfaces group, emphasizing the importance of materials and the artist's gestures. He has taught at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, as well as in Marseille and Nîmes, where he served as director. His work has been exhibited in France and internationally, including a solo show at the Centre Pompidou in 1982 and representation of France at the Venice Biennale in 1988.