We will be auctioning off twenty oil paintings on canvas and cardboard, depicting still lifes, landscapes of the Morvan region, and views of the factories in Creusot.

Raymond Rochette is the painter of the factories in Creusot. A native of Creusot and attached to his beautiful region, he began his career by painting his first oils depicting landscapes of the Morvan, scenes of rural life, and numerous portraits.

"I love machines as one can love the fountains of Provence; workshops make me think of the naves of cathedrals, and their gleams of the nocturnal festivals on the Grand Canal... The dancers of the opera do not have more beautiful gestures than those of the workers; Claude Lorrain painting his palaces did not have more pure joy than the one I feel when drawing the workshops; the profusion of titanic metal assemblies gives me the joy of Piranesi, which I taste by glorifying welders, grinders, and rollers who become in my paintings the magicians of a flamboyant forest, that of heavy metallurgy." Painter's Journal

Fascinated by the factories and the life that emanates from them, he first had the idea of ​​painting man in the factory during his civil service in Morocco from 1926 to 1928. He then decided to highlight the work of men at the heart of the factories in Creusot through figurative and colorful painting.

In 1949, he obtained permission to enter the Schneider factories and paint there. From that date on, he never stopped painting the play of light and movement, the gigantism of the machines compared to the smallness of man. His work is also influenced by the work of artists from the region such as Edmond Chaine, Honoré Hugrel, or Jules Adler, with whom he shared throughout his life.

Since 2006 (the centenary of his birth), numerous exhibitions have taken place in France and abroad: in Germany, at the Rheinisches Industriemuseeum in Oberhausen, at the Arcelormittal headquarters in Paris, with Maximilien Luce and Fernand Léger at the "artists at the factory" exhibition at the Belfort museum, at the Senate, and at the Ministry of Labor.

We would like to thank his heirs for the additional information they provided us about the artist.

A lot of information is available on the artist's website: LINK The catalog raisonné of works collected so far (more than 1800...) is accessible via the "Gallery" page of the site, by clicking on the "Catalogue" button.

The "Raymond Rochette" space dedicated to the artist's work opened its doors last spring. Located in the family home, it can be visited by appointment, as well as the painter's studio and apartments : Link 

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