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Bernard Bygodt spent his childhood in Dordogne and Northern France. Even as a teenager he was fascinated by painting and decided to make it his career. He studied plastic arts at the Saint Luc school in Tournai (Belgium) and at the Fine Arts Institute in Lille.
At the age of twenty he was drafted for a 28 month period of military service in Algeria. That experience left deep traces on his approach to life, strengthening his determination to remain independent, to refuse any sort of control and to open to other cultures. A self-taught artist, Bygodt found his inspiration in his eclectic readings and in the observation of nature. Jazz, Indian and modern music, songs with meaningful texts were all part of his workshop atmosphere. |
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In 1968, he settled down with his family in Eygalières, a village in Provence, where his path crossed that of P.Seghers, R.Barthes and where he befriended many writers and painters. All these encounters nourished his artistic creation.
In 1981, BYGODT moved to the Tarn area. There, he went on with his personal research and shared his taste for painting by organising artistic practice workshops. Close to lyrical abstraction, BYGODT's work features dynamic composition, brushwork both ample and precise, rich material, strong chromatic accents and stark black and white.