AIMÉ BARRAUD

Aimé Barraud

1902 La Chaux-de-Fonds/Switzerland – 1954 Neuenburg/Switzerland

Coming from a modest background, Aimé and his brothers Charles, François and Aurèle have to contribute to the support of the household by doing unskilled work after school. With the money they can spare, the four sons continue their artistic training in evening classes at the local art school. Due to a serious illness of their father, the sons have to earn money as construction workers after finishing primary school. In 1922, Aimé moves with François to Reims, where they work as house painters and continue their artistic training. They move on to Paris, working again as construction workers while spending their Sundays studying art and visiting museums. François goes back to Reims and in his place Aurèle joins Aimé in Paris. Together they can exhibit twice at an art gallery.

In 1931, Aimé marries Simone Husson, born in 1910. She supports her husband when he quarrels with his art dealers, and following, he decides to exhibit in his hometown La Chaux-de-Fonds. The exhibition becomes a success, and he signs a ten-year contract with the art dealer Max Moos. The couple then moves to Geneva. In 1934, François, also under contract by Max Moos, dies. The attitude of the Geneva art dealer towards his brother induces Aimé to cancel his contract with him. In 1938, he moves with his family to Neuchâtel and finds a patron in 1943, which improves his financial situation. Over the years, the artist creates many paintings, drawings, and etchings, making him an important representative of Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) and later Realism.

Snyder ist in zahlreichen Museumssammlungen vertreten, darunter The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Jewish Museum, Guggenheim Museum, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Art Institute of Chicago und The Phillips Collection. Im Jahr 2021 erwarb die Tate Modern, London, ihr bahnbrechendes Werk “Dark Strokes Hope” aus den 1970er Jahren.

Zu ihren jüngsten Einzelausstellungen gehören The Summer Becomes a Room in der Canada Gallery, New York City (2020) und Rosebuds & Rivers bei Blain/Southern, London (2019). Zu den bedeutenden Gruppenausstellungen der letzten Zeit gehören Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY (2018-fortlaufend); Art After Stonewall: 1969-1989, Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, NY, Columbus Museum of Art, OH, Patricia and Philip Frost Museum, FL (2019-20); Painting 2.0: Expression in the Information Age, kuratiert von Achim Hochdörfer, David Joselit, Manuela Ammer und Tonio Kröner, Brandhorst Museum, München und mumok, Wien (2015-16).

Snyder lebt und arbeitet derzeit in Brooklyn und Woodstock, NY.

Selected Works

Aimé Victor Barraud
Branche de sapin

no year
oil on canvas
92 x 73 cm

Exhibitions

01 November – 31 December 2010

Paintings

Catalogue

Excerpt

“En 1902, Aimé Barraud né à la Chaux-de-Fonds, le troisième frère de cette famille d’artistes qui occupa une place prépondérante sur la scène artistique neuchâteloise et suisse du XXe siècle. Travailleur infatigable, il a produit plusieurs centaines de tableaux, de dessins et de gravures, affirmant un style personnel et réaliste dont la technique devait plus aux anciens qu’aux mouvances postimpressionnistes de son époque. Artiste prétendument à contre-courant, Barraud prend place, comme son frère François, dans le mouvement de la Nouvelle Objectivité qu’il a peu ou mal connue.”