Deprived of education because of his modest family background, Anselme Boix-Vives emigrated to France at the age of eighteen in search of work. In 1926, he bought a fruit and vegetable shop in Moûtiers. His sometimes eccentric behavior caused the ridicule of his neighbors. Humanist and peaceful, he wrote a “peace plan,” L’Union Mondiale – l’avenir du monde, to save the planet, which he addressed to the attention of General de Gaulle, the Queen of England and the Pope; none ever answered back. In 1962, after the death of his wife, he retired. Having remembered Anselme’s spontaneous drawings on the backs of store receipts, one of his sons encouraged him to paint. Anselme Boix-Vives then began a new life. Between 1962 and 1969, he produced over two thousand works: gouaches, oils (also Ripolin oils), and drawings. His universe is peopled with kings, chaplains, lunar beings, personalities of his time, but also by common people, revealing snapshots of our time in the heart of flamboyant jungles.
BOIX-VIVES anselme
