Collector's Notes, Featured Works
Romantic Modernism in Motion: The Enduring Allure of Josine Vignon
In the quietly expressive world of Josine Vignon’s, colour isn’t just seen, it’s remembered. Her paintings have a way of settling into you quietly. You don’t always notice it at first, but then you walk past one again, and something stirs.
Paris Beginnings
Born in Paris in 1922, Vignon spent much of her life painting the countryside and coastlines of France. She used bold brushstrokes and softened colours to capture places where movement and stillness met. Her work, whether sketching a windswept hillside or a moment of quiet indoors, always seems to carry a kind of pulse.
She made her home in the Marais, on Rue Beautreillis, one of the most historic quarters of Paris. Surrounded by its mix of old stone buildings, gardens, and a lively artistic community, she was part of a neighbourhood long associated with painters, writers, and performers. That sense of place – rich with history yet alive with daily life – quietly infuses much of her art.
Portrait of a Man Smoking a Pipe (1950s)
A post-war Parisian figure, thoughtful and stylish, painted with character and charm. View Here.
A Different Kind of Academy
She studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Montparnasse, a school known for its openness and independence. Unlike the École des Beaux-Arts, which only began admitting women at the very end of the 19th century and continued to impose restrictions for years, the Grande Chaumière welcomed female artists from its earliest days. By the time Josine was a student, the school had been shaped for decades by two pioneering women, Martha Stettler and Alice Dannenberg, who directed it from 1909 to 1945. Their leadership made the academy one of the rare places where women could study life drawing and painting on equal footing with men.
For Vignon, this meant her artistic education was defined not by barriers, but by possibilities. The Grande Chaumière gave her freedom to experiment, to look at the world differently, and to carry that openness into her own style. While she is often grouped with the French Post-Impressionists, her paintings feel more personal and inward-looking. It is Romantic modernism with both lyricism and edge.
Mediterranean Hillside Village
A sunlit hillside captured in oil, full of warmth and texture. View Here.
Why We’re Drawn to Her Work
At Stag Gallery, we have long been captivated by Vignon’s work. Not because she is a household name, she isn’t. Not because her paintings are flashy, they are not that either. We love her because her art feels deeply honest. Textured oils, energetic charcoals, and gentle gouache pieces carry that rare balance of boldness and vulnerability. They sit quietly, then stay with you. Her paintings have a quiet intensity that isn’t showy, but full of feeling. They are the kind of works you notice in new ways every time you look at them.
Landscapes and Memories
Many of her landscapes are drawn from the south of France: sun-warmed walls, quiet towns, gardens in full bloom. There is memory in them, even if you have never been to those places. Others are looser, almost dreamlike: a woman walking alone, a village glimpsed at dusk, a sea that seems alive with movement.
Côte d’Azur Pastel (1970s)
Light-drenched pastel of Nice, where colour and atmosphere carry the rhythm of the coast. View Here.
An Artist Worth Discovering
For those who are drawn to softness, storytelling, and art that grows with you over time, Vignon is worth discovering. Her paintings often resonate with travellers, daydreamers, and those who seek the gentler corners of the world.
Living With Her Work
Her works belong in rooms that want to feel alive rather than staged. Whether propped on a mantel or hung above a reading chair, they do not demand attention. They invite it.
If you would like to see more of our collection of Josine Vignon’s work, click Here.
Fashion Illustration, Mother and Child in the Rain (1950s)
A tender, everyday moment, elevated through line, colour, and elegance. View Here.
Sources & Further Reading
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The Art Bog – Académie de la Grande Chaumière: Paris’s Free-Spirited Art Sanctuary
A look at the history and atmosphere of the academy where Vignon trained.
https://theartbog.com/academie-de-la-grande-chaumiere-pariss-free-spirited-art-sanctuary/ -
Aware: Archives of Women Artists, Research & Exhibitions – Foreign Women Artists in Paris in the Early 20th Century
Context on the challenges and breakthroughs for women in Parisian art schools at the time.
https://awarewomenartists.com/en/decouvrir/artistes-etrangeres-a-paris-au-debut-du-xxe-siecle/ -
Lost Women Art – Art Education
Overview of how women artists navigated restrictions in French academies, and where progressive alternatives emerged.
https://www.lostwomenart.de/en/chapter/art-education/ -
The Paris Effect – Académie Colarossi
Comparative example of another academy that admitted women and gave them access to nude models in the 1870s.
https://www.thepariseffect.net/blog/category/academie-de-la-grande-chaumiegravere -
1stDibs – Josine Vignon: Available Works
Examples of her paintings, provenance details, and her continued presence in the international art market.
https://www.1stdibs.com/creators/josine-vignon/art/
