Hétreau, Rémy

Rémy Hétreau (1913-2001) was French painter, graphic artist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. He was commissioned in the 1950s by the Comité National de Propagande en Faveur du Vin, a French government agency tasked with promoting the nation's wines and tourism to the wine growing regions, to create a series of eleven illustrated maps entitled "Les Vignobles de France". These were Région Est, Normandie, Champagne, Bordeaux, Rhône, Bourgogne, Provence, Alsace, Loire, Roussillon & what was then the French colony of Algeria. His highly decorative, exuberant maps display a joyful mid-century aesthetic; they have become much sought after. Art critic René Barjavel said of him "In the world around him, it is always springtime. He has a blossoming tree in his heart"; a comment evident in these wonderful maps. His work has recently become very sought after in China, where some of his paintings have sold for 6 figure sums.