Roger Courtois was born in 1945 in Foucart, in the heart of the Pays de Caux region of Normandy, France. Based in Rouen, where his studio is located, he came to painting relatively late, at the age of thirty-three. In 1977, he enrolled in the Free Drawing Academy of the Rouen School of Fine Arts, attending its courses diligently until 1983.
Initially influenced by Impressionism, he painted the Seine River, the chalk cliffs of Normandy, and the historic districts of Rouen. A decisive turning point came in 1979 during the first major posthumous retrospective of Pablo Picasso at the Grand Palais in Paris. Deeply impressed by The Pipes of Pan and The Dream, Courtois developed an artistic approach centered on structured composition and the interplay between figurative and geometric abstraction.
In the early 1980s, his work evolved through a post-Cubist period before embracing Symbolism, exploring universal themes such as freedom, war, peace, friendship, and solidarity. Following the death of his parents in 1985, his reflections on life and mortality led him to discover the work of René Magritte. Fascinated by the relationship between the visible and the invisible, he entered a Surrealist phase that lasted until 1989, when a serious car accident brought this narrative and dreamlike period to an abrupt end.
By 1990, Courtois returned to the fundamental subjects of painting: still life, portraiture, the nude, and interior scenes. During this period, he developed a free figurative style while continuing to refine his interest in structure, balance, and contrast.
A major revelation occurred in 2002 during a visit to Rouen Cathedral, when he discovered the quatrefoil motifs featured in the stained-glass windows of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. This encounter inspired a new body of abstract work entitled “Courtoisies,” a reference both to his surname and to the medieval ideal of courtliness. Between 2002 and 2007, he explored the expressive possibilities of this sensual form in countless variations before gradually reintegrating it into a renewed figurative language.
His work is characterized by a constant dialogue between construction and movement, geometry and fluidity. Vertical and horizontal structures interact with curves, arabesques, circles, and organic forms, creating compositions in which color and space play equally essential roles.
In May 2026, Roger Courtois joined Outsiders Gallery in Rouen on the occasion of the group exhibition “The Architecture of Dreams.” This collaboration highlights an artistic practice that has, for more than four decades, explored the intersections of memory, imagination, and visual construction. His singular universe naturally resonates with the exhibition’s theme, examining how dreams can become inner architectures and visual narratives.
For Roger Courtois, painting remains above all a profound inner necessity. His artistic vision can be summarized by a simple formula:
Courtois = Form(s) + Color(s) + Space.
