Patrick betaudier artist biography

It took him years, but Patrick Betaudier finally saw the light.

The Trinidad-born artist had searched in books, in museums, in cathedrals, in conversations with scholars. Finally, through patience and practice, Betaudier learned how to coax out the light he wanted in his paintings, using an archaic technique forgotten by most inhabitants of the art world.

Like most young artists, Betaudier had experimented with various painting styles while living in Paris in the 1960s.

Patrick betaudier artist biography wikipedia

But it wasn’t until he came to teach at Southern Illinois University in 1969 that he made the discovery that changed the course of his career. Poring over art history books in the library, he became enchanted with the works of Flemish Renaissance masters, in particular the luminous, highly detailed paintings of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden.

“I became very interested in this business of technique.

I was fascinated by the illusions of their forms — the imitation of nature to that extent &