Discover “The Home of French Brands”

“With the official reopening of nightlife in France, there was a beautiful blue sky, sunny weather, and a joyful vibe in anticipation of our first meetup. With our special guest Olivier Masmonteil, we hosted eighty guests, including journalists, culture bloggers and business partners”. This was the scene set for the launch the first bi-monthly Lefranc Bourgeois art meetups hosted at Charbonnel, The Home of French Brands.

The aim of the meet ups is to nurture the Lefranc Bourgeois brand culture while exploring specific topics, together with artists, ambassadors, and speakers, live from the heart of Paris!

The opening ceremony was Titled Revelations, with an aim to:

• Demystify oil painting by introducing our new communication campaign featuring Olivier using Lefranc Bourgeois extra-fine oil colours.
• Celebrate our 302 years heritage, offering our guests some "retailtainment" with an LB quiz and presentation of archives. This included letters by Monet and Picasso, our first resealable metallic tubes, a portrait of Mr Lefranc, and much more.
• Celebrating friendship and synergies between Lefranc Bourgeois and the artist Olivier Masmonteil, disclosing his unique masterpiece "Revelation". We introduced Olivier Masmonteil in a previous article which you can read about here.

We are grateful for Oliver's collaboration with this new global campaign: a series of five Revelations in the intimacy of the artist studio. The videos, punctuated by Schubert's music, represent five invitations by Lefranc Bourgeois to discover creative journeys and techniques inspired by the masters.

Revelation N°1: Exalt the subtleties of shades

Discover the grisaille technique, dive into the roots of Renaissance with Piero Della Francesca, LB extra-fine neutrals and Xavier de Langlais egg medium, and feel the pride of being part of an impressive filiation:

Revelation N°2: Explore the depth of colours.

Rubens's baroque draperies and a combination of unique Lefranc Bourgeois reds and Flemish glazing medium. Explore painters' vocabulary and enjoy the connection with the master's palette:

Revelation N°3: Travel into the light.

Berthe Morisot, the impressionist movement's French founder, and her precious suspended moment in the green garden atmosphere bathed by summer light. Learn how to use various green tones with matte medium and feel the jubilation of seeing colours shaping the artwork.

Revelation N°4: Magnify the power of the wave. 

Courbet enjoys the modern freedom and energetic authenticity of knife painting with LB impasto mat medium that adds texture without impacting pigments intensity.

Révélation N°5: Capture the poetry of emotions.

Lucian Freud's portrait offering us an imaginary kiss and the complexity of flesh tones made easier with Venetian medium.

The evening highlight was Oliver's presentation to us. A magnificent masterpiece ("Revelation", oil on canvas, 250x160cm) with Lefranc Bourgeois extra-fine oil. This piece now hangs proudly on the largest wall at Charbonnel, the "home of French brands."

Frederique says, "The image is an intense celebration of colours and elegant screen printing, a tribute to the etching expertise of Charbonnel. It conveys an imperious need for elevation and contemplation and opens the horizon to a bright future. The painting seals the lasting collaborative friendship between Olivier and Colart. Each relationship is a revelation, and a brand is a relationship!"Revelation" is the treasure of the Colart French Brands' sanctuary!".

The authentic Charbonnel boutique located in the heart of Paris, facing Notre Dame, is the home of Colart French brands, three complementary ancestral Parisian brands, referent in their discipline, accessible to inspire and support any artist, sharing a familiar pioneer spirit and involved in education and transmission:

• Conté à Paris 1795: sketching and drawing,
• Lefranc Bourgeois 1720: oil, gouache, vinylic, acrylic, and watercolor painting,
• Charbonnel 1862: etching, gilding, decorative arts.

These French heritage brands will reveal "l'Art et la Manière" creativity and know-how to the world from Paris via the new virtual showroom planned for this year. They will share their news, activities, and expertise in this unique experiential place through workshops, training sessions, PR meetups, and demonstrations. ”.

Stay tuned for the next art meetup at Charbonnel, on 14th April.

Titled "Poetry of Colours" we will celebrate the refreshing energy of Spring around two inspiring women artists.