If you ask René Carcan which art he professes, he will answer ‘printmaker’. Because he believes he is above all a printmaker. However, he is an eclectic, a versatile ‘jack-of-all-trades’, whose body of work , while encompassing various crafts, still presents a unity and a coherence which mean that at the very first glance you will say "this is a Carcan".
He had been dreaming about a printmakers’ house for years. A home where it would feel good to live and work with other printmakers, talk about art and techniques. In short, to try to recreate “the yellow house” dreamed of by Van Gogh.”
We are especially familiar with his colour prints where small figures move, suns rise or strange thistle-like flowers spring up within imaginary, sparse and profound landscapes.
His prints from more than twenty years ago evoke mystery, silence and shadow. Since then, colours have burst forth from all sides. On numerous occasions he was inspired by the seasons but spring and autumn are particularly well suited to his colourist’s temperament.
