Patrick HANS
whose family name is Suquet, was born in Paris on April 12th 1947. Raised in a middle-class family, he attended the Lycée Jeanson de Sailly for his secondary education, and went on to the Petit Seminaire in Paris, before joining the Ecole des Cadres business school, graduating with a marketing degree. At the same time he was a top-class track & field performer, alongside Bambuck, Jazy and other contemporary French champions.
When still young he married Roselyne Perroteau, had two children, and did his military service. Around this time he painted his first canvasses on the coast of Normandy, where his family usually spent their vacations. This was in 1969. From then on his work required him to travel all over France. During the following ten years, painting was the least of his concerns, although some of his paintings date from that period. Returning to Paris, he settled in the 19th arrondissement, and from this point his artistic output really began.
By 1976 he was working for an insurance company, and had four children. He created a large number of canvasses inspired by a variety of different themes. He decided to show his paintings in numerous exhibitions in Paris, the provinces and foreign countries, showing several paintings at the Salon des Indépendants.
Then in 1984 his painting came to a halt, as a result of his separation from his wife, and consequently from his children.
He lived for four years with Frédérique Dumont and began his travels again, changing jobs, and a few canvasses emerged from that difficult period.
In 1988 he was back in Paris and aiming for a new position in a company. That was when he met Nadine Pavillon.
1990 was the year of a new start for Hans, following his break with the business world and his decision to devote himself entirely to painting. At this moment he opened a small studio adjacent to his residence at Montigny les Cormeilles, which was open to the public. At the time his work was mainly inspired by his local area, the Val d'Oise. He showed his paintings in numerous exhibitions and managed to be selected for the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Artistes Français at the Grand Palais in Paris, where his large canvasses were a great success with the public.
Wishing to expand his work, he decided to settle in Giverny, which with its special associations with Impressionism would be profitable for his inspiration, and was popular with tourists. He lived a few hundred yards from the Claude Monet Museum, in a calm, restful spot where his home and his studio inspired delight in every way. He began to work in Claude Monet's garden. His paintings display the influence both of the location and of Impressionism. Numerous press articles began to appear. A cosmopolitan public began visit his studio regularly. The Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Artistes Français were again great successes for him. He started the regional exhibition cycle with the Galerie du Démocrate.
Then in 1993 he exposed at the Galerie Hirsch at Lyons la Fôret, two restaurants renowned for their permanent exhibitions, the Amyot Gallery in Rue St Louis en l'Isle in Paris, and sales rooms all over France.
In 1994, following an exhibition at the Crédit Lyonnais bank in Vernon, he showed his paintings at the Hôtel Normandy and the Salle d'Armes at Pont de l'Arche, not forgetting some group exhibitions.
But the main event of the 1994 season was the opening of a gallery opposite the Claude Monet Museum, which attracted more than 23,000 visitors who came to linger by the picture-rails of this gallery supervised by the artist himself.
1995 started with an exhibition at the Espace Philippe Auguste, the cultural center in Vernon.
In parallel with the seasonal opening of his gallery each year in Giverny, attracting several thousand visitors, in 1996 Patrick Hans exhibited in Manet's old studios in the rue Saint-Petersbourg in Paris, at the André Malraux Cultural Center at Kremlin bicetre in November 1999, at the Marie G. Tribeca Gallery in New York in December 2002 and finally in Japan in 2004, as part of the partnership agreement between Japan and the Claude Monet Museum. In February 2000, he moved to the little village of Gommecourt, 5 km (3 miles) from Giverny, where he built a large studio to work and receive his clients, while maintaining his gallery in Giverny where his admirers come in ever-increasing numbers to see his canvasses.
After 15 years as a professional artist, Patrick Hans has made a name for himself. His reputation extends well beyond the local region. His work continues to progress and his sales are increasing. His paintings, in addition to a large number of French clients, are now present in 25 countries including the United States, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Australia, Korea, India, etc.
Apart from Monet's garden and the Hotel Baudy, his main sources of inspiration remain the banks of the Epte and the Seine, Giverny's forests and fields, and the surrounding countryside. But during the winter season he recharges his batteries with pictorial campaigns which lead him into different regions of France and to far countries where the confrontation with different cultures, colors and ambient lighting, is particularly rewarding. His painting themes are based essentially on the sky-tree-water trilogy, whether in Giverny, in seascapes or in the regions or countries he visits.
The human figure is practically absent. His touch is delicate, his pallet is rich and full of color, with very pure colors. His technique is lively and shows great sensitivity. Hans began with the great lessons of Impressionism, especially the examples of Monet, Renoir and Pissaro, to find his own way and assert his own personality. Beyond Impressionism, he would claim to belong to the school of sentimentalism, where painting is a support to convey emotions. As he likes to say, "More than an art, painting is a philosophy of Man."