José Catalan

He discovered photography in adolescence, rapidly focussing on natural scenes and landscapes.

However scenes from ordinary life and diverse encounters help him also develop an interest in portraits.

A member of the French photographic federation, he has already been granted various awards from both local and national institutions for several of his productions.

His passion for his art allows him to establish close contacts with painters and writers, and naturally enough, in 2000 he took to oil painting, drawing inspiration from photographs of his native province (Northern France and Pas-de-Calais) or other places discovered during his journeys.

Especially interested in painting as texture, Jose Catalan practises exclusively oil painting and preferably knife painting

Painter Eric Gallet (blog: galleteric.over-blog.com) writes :
“In his compositions, his favourite themes are taken from the aquatic, vegetable and mineral worlds.
The way spaces are treated verges on
abstraction, juxtaposing numerous ochres and blues.
With this felicitous combination of figurative and abstract art, Jose Catalan realizes his paintings according to principles of composition which favour unity, structure and harmony, thus remaining faithful to the great values of classical art with moving pictures instinct with poetry and sincerity.

Writer Gérard Lefebvre (L’Harmattan) declares :
“Most often it is the maritime element which is being questioned, or rather which lies open to our questions, memories and traces.
One only has to join the warmly coloured horizons or the unexpected sudden contrasts to be carried away into a gentle reverie.
With an ever increasing talent, Jose Catalan’s photographs and paintings softly capture the pure emotion of places one would like to discover, moments one would like to share and people one would like to meet.
Meting the artist is just like coming to a quiet anchoring place where  passion gently surfaces”