Introduction
Nathalie Tousnakhoff has always felt like a painter; as a child, she painted small naïve landscapes with gouache that she sold to tourists on the beach; as a teenager, she painted Madonnas with oil on canvas – a perilous operation in a room with light beige carpeting.
But when she entered the Arts Décoratifs de Paris, intimidated by a career as an “artist”, she chose the printed arts (illustration, engraving, silk-screening) and trained in children’s illustration.
Artworks
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In the years that followed, she produced few illustrations, but, by chance, many calligraphies for French couturiers and luxury houses (Moët et Chandon, Hermès, Christian Lacroix, etc).
In 2003, she left Paris with her family to get closer to nature, abandoned the luxury of Paris and began collaborating in calligraphy with publishing houses. But in 2008, during a trip to Tasmania, she discovers the work of local engravers, whose approach is radically different from what she knew in Europe. It was a revelation, and back in France she began a training course in Toulouse, at the workshop of the Main Gauche (Left Hand).
Since then, she has been pursuing her practice mainly in etching (copperplate engraving) as well as in linocut. She has been teaching since 2015, and participates in numerous solo and group exhibitions.
However, the introduction of color in printmaking is rather constrained, and a feeling of frustration begins to emerge. That’s why, after a long detour of almost 3 decades, she returns to her first love: painting. She starts from the beginning, training in traditional oil painting techniques, then in tempera (egg painting of Western manuscripts).
Today, she paints in oil on wood, and sometimes in tempera. Her favorite subjects are the female figure and nature. Her portraits reflect the serenity that the proximity of this environment gives them. She paints in the traditional way, on wood panels prepared with gesso, with oil in transparency, in thin layers and in glaze. Her inspiration comes from the masters of Flemish primitive painting, the Renaissance, but also the illuminated miniatures of medieval manuscripts.
Profile
Solo Exhibitions (paintings & engravings)
2021 Ic’Art Conseil Gallery in Séguret (Var) – France
2019-2022 Several contemporary art fairs in France and Luxembourg.
2017 Atelier de la Main Gauche in Toulouse – France
2016 La Mucca Toulouse – France
2015 L’Instant Bucolique in Toulouse – France
2012 & 2013 Galerie des Carmes in Toulouse – France
2012 Médiathèque du Cannet des Maures with the Maison Méditerranéenne de l’Estampe – France
2010 Atelier de la Main Gauche in Toulouse – France
Group Exhibitions (engraving)
With Les Estampes Mobiles (Collective of printmakers) :
2019 Sonneville Museum – France
2017 The Galerie des Bains Douches in Saverdun – France
2015
- Ombres Blanches bookstore in Toulouse – France
- Brussels – Belgium
- Maison de la Gravure Méditerranée in Montpellier – France
2016 Gallery of the Hirondelle in Carla-Bayle – France
With the Collectif de La Main gauche :
2017 Espace Saint-Cyprien for “10 years of printmaking at the Atelier”.
2015 One hundred square centimeters in Carla-Bayle – France
2014
- La Goutte d’eau in Toulouse – France
- Day of the Contemporary Print in Paris – France
- Palace of Justice in Toulouse – France
- One hundred square centimeters in Carla-Bayle – France
2013 Contemporary Print Day in Paris – France
2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 : Exhibition of the Collective at Atelier de la Main Gauche
2014 Carle-Bayle (Ariège – France) “Printmaking and graphic narration
Various collective exhibitions with the association Estampadura in Midi-Pyrénées, in France.