Born in Paris in 1897, Roland Oudot studied and taught at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs*. He has exhibited in Paris, Lausanne, Venice and elsewhere. He is a first prize winner of the Venice Biennale*. At first glance nothing may appear simpler than an oil painting by Roland Oudot, but such lucidity and composure are not lightly come by. These qualities are not the result of gifts which the contemporary French painter has only to summon when and as he will. He has acquired his restraint by deliberately bringing together opposing forces and reconciling them, in order to make a convincing and consistent whole. In his art there is a wide, deep vein of Baroque* nonconformity.

A single Roland Oudot still life...