Boris Vansier (b. 1928) is a Swiss painter who was born in Soviet Russia but spent his childhood in Geneva. His avant-garde manner lies in the fragmentation of the painting, which makes it look like a colorful Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Shunga and Max Ernst's Famous Collage Novel. In his works, one can also recognize Bacon, Schiele, and Picasso, to whom he dedicated the series “Mes Picasso” full of references to the ingenious artist’s works.
Fig. 1. Boris Vansier with his paintings
Life and Work
After the coming of age, Vansier moved from Switzerland to the USA and settled in New York. There he attended classes at Adelphi University. Soon after this, he enrolled at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. In 1948, Vansier relocated to Montreal and married Claude-Marie Plouvier, who later gave birth to twins Gérald and Daryl. In Montreal, Vansier met Henry Kleemann, the gallerist from New York, who offered him to exhibit his works in Kleemann gallery. After the divorce in 1954, the artist left Canada and moved to France, where he established a relationship with New Realist artists like David Lan-Bar, Raymond Hains, Frans Krajcberg, and Gigi Guadagnucci. There happened his second marriage, which was to the daughter of famous composer Arthur Honegger. In 1966, Vansier divorced his second wife, with whom he had a daughter. Being in Paris, the artist held several exhibitions and maintained his friendship with New Realists. In the 1970s, Vansier returned to Switzerland, where he still lives.
Fig. 2. Le roi du Coeur (King of Hearts)
1967, collage and paint on canvas, Diam. 105 cm
Fig. 3. Esquisse pour un portrait de Vanessa
1966, paint on canvas, 50 x 50 cm
Fig. 4. Invitation à la sieste (The invitation for a dream)
2012-16, mixed media on panel and canvas “double-tableau,” 75 x 111 cm
Fig. 5. Petite fille-modèle (Little female model)
1985-86, 1989, paint on canvas, 110 x 100 cm
Fig. 6. Une interrogation sans point (Interrogation without the point)
1978-2007, mixed media on canvas “double-tableau,” 91.5 x 52.5 cm
Fig. 7. Mensuration – 1 (Measuring)
1975, paint on canvas, 130 x 130 cm
Fig. 8. Mensuration – 2
1975, paint on canvas, 130 x 130 cm
Fig. 9. Corsage / L’accoudoir
1976, paint on canvas, 142 x 105 cm
Later Years
The works of this traveling painter were being exhibited throughout the world, mainly in Europe: in Switzerland, France, Belgium, Israel, and Sweden. His paintings can be found in lots of private collections. Vansier continues to paint in his home-studio, where he lives with Hiltrud Kratel, their dog Canelle and their two cats. In 2018, his son and granddaughter produced a documentary film on his art.
Fig. 10. Poster of the documentary film on Boris Vansier (squarespace-cdn.com)
Fig. 11. Les mains du désir / Horizon bleu
1987, mixed media on canvas, 80 x 80 cm
Fig. 12. Offrande en chaîne – Chamber-maid
1970, paint on canvas, 230 x 130 cm
Fig. 13. Bien offerte (Provocation) / La source
1970-71, paint on canvas, 100 x 100 cm
Fig. 14. Untitled
1965, collage and paint on canvas, 122 x 90 cm
The Offerings
On the platform dedicated to the works of Vansier, it is stated that “The Offerings” series “caused quite a stir when first exhibited at Iris Clert’s Paris gallery in 1967. French networks and newspapers hotly debated if the art was erotic or pornographic, but that body of work evolved into the largest and most significant series in his corpus.” Vansier’s paintings often shape cycles as he returns to particular topics throughout his career. “The Offerings” series is not a group of works created in 1967, but several groups of the six decades, from the 1950s to the 2000s, with a changing manner and usage of mixed media. This avant-garde sensuality contains lots of close-ups of female genitalia, so if Courbet would have been born at the beginning of the 20th century, it’s probably what his famous “Origin of the World” had looked like.
Fig. 15. Chute libre / Tailleur Chanel (Freefall)
1966-67, paint on canvas, 100 x 100 cm
