Yvonne Robert was born in Saint-Avaugourd-des-Landes, southern France, in 1922. She comes from a family of farmers which raised its seven children under difficult circumstances including her father’s alcoholism, her mother’s suicide attempt, verbal abuse and other problems. She left school at the age of 12 and worked as a maid for various school teachers and a farmer who abused her. After her marriage in 1944 she was forced to live with her alcohol addicted mother-in-law who never liked her. In 1945, after the birth of her first child, the family moved to the town of Grues where she now still lives alone. After a serious bout with diphtheria she started suffering from depression, a condition which would afflict her for the rest of her life.

 

In 1974 she began to buy paper and watercolors at a local stationary store. Her first attempts at art were encouraged by a brother who lived abroad and was familiar with the art world. Some months later she started buying oil paints and canvas. This was the beginning of a long creative process during which she started painting pictures in a small, and poorly lit room, holding the canvas on her knees. From 1974 to 1984, she created over 250 works in small formats, ten of which are now part of the Collection of Art Brut in Lausanne. For many years she was reluctant to show her works to collectors and a general public she did not trust. Now in her 80’s, Robert continues to paint.

 

In addition to using oils, Robert also paints with gouache. Her subjects include rural scenes, animals, flowers and details of her life of hardship, always accompanied by painted captions which typically reveal her state of mind – joy, contentment, disappointment – along with her modesty as an artist. The colors of the canvases of this profoundly human artist are bright, bold, luminous and of an amazing richness.