Background
Camille Bombois was born on February 3, 1883 in Venarey-les-Laumes in the Côte-d'Or, under humble circumstances. His childhood was spent living on a barge.
Camille Bombois was born on February 3, 1883 in Venarey-les-Laumes in the Côte-d'Or, under humble circumstances. His childhood was spent living on a barge.
He attended a local school in Venarey-les-Laumes until the age of twelve.
He became a farm worker. During his free time he drew and competed in wrestling competitions at local fairs.
As an adult he joined a traveling circus and performed as a strong man and wrestler.
In 1907, Bombois fulfilled his dream of moving to Paris, where he worked as a railway laborer, eventually finding a night job at a newspaper printing plant handling heavy newsprint rolls. Despite the exhausting nature of his job he painted from dawn to dusk, sleeping little. He showed his paintings in sidewalk exhibitions, but his earliest paintings, revealing the influence of the old masters in their subdued use of color, attracted few buyers.
1914 marked the beginning of four-and-a-half years of military service in World War I. Bombois spent much of it on the front line, earning three decorations for bravery. Upon his return home, encouraged that his wife had succeeded in selling a number of his paintings in his absence, he resumed his routine of night labor and daytime painting.
In 1922, his sidewalk displays in Montmartre began attracting the attention of collectors. The art dealer Wilhelm Uhde "discovered" him in 1924, and exhibited Bombois' work in the Galeries des Quatre Chemins in 1927.
In 1937, his works were shown in the exhibition "Maîtres populaires de la réalité" in Paris. His first solo show was in 1944 at the Galerie Pétridès. Critics compared Bombois' work to that of Henri Rousseau, which it resembled in its naïve drawing, crisp delineation of form, and attention to detail, although Bombois was less of a fantasist than Rousseau.
The paintings of his maturity are bold in color, featuring strong contrasts of black, bright reds, blues and electric pinks. Drawing from his own experiences, he often painted circus performers and landscapes with fishermen. His paintings of women are emphatic in their carnality, and his landscapes are notable in their careful attention to space, and to the effects of reflected light on water.
The artist died on June 6, 1970 in Paris, France.
Baigneuses
1929Bouquet
Boy Fishing
Chemin de Halage
1919In the Park
1937Jeune Fille
1920L’Abri des Lavandières
1930La gitana
1935Le lavoir
1932Le Maquereau
1935Le Repos des Gens du Cirque
1930Les bas noirs avec journal
1930Maison sur la riviere
1989Port de Boulogne
1927O Atleta
1920The White Horse
1920Vielle Masion a Compaiegne
1935Vieux Moulin
1925Vue de Clerval
1930Yellow Street
1925He was married in Paris.