Mr. Barraud was born in La Chaux-de-fonds, Neuchatel, Switzerland, on November 24, 1899. He was the second eldest of four brothers, François, Aimé, Aurèle and Charles. They all were largely self-taught painters or sculptors, who later have been raised as professional plasterers and house painters.
François Barraud received his painting education while attending evening classes at the local art school at the École d'art appliqué in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1911. He studied there together with all his brothers.
In 1919, Mr. Barraud presented his artworks in La Chaux-de-Fonds and also took part in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Basel. He left Switzerland in the year 1922, and migrated to Reims in France where he served as a house painter for two years. Around 1924-1925, Barraud found work of artist and craftsman in Paris.
François Barraud limited himself to a small circle of topics. He painted generally still lifes, female nudes and portraits, including several self-portraits with his wife, Marie. Through accurate drawing and clear, smoothly applied colors, the artist was able to achieve a high degree of realism. This resulted in sober compositions with a clear image structure, factual-precise person representations and often symbolically encoded background. His precise, realist style of painting was influenced by the old Flemish and French masters he knew about while visiting the Louvre.
François Barraud was a distinguished French painter. Arthur Stoll, a Swiss biochemist, held a major collection of François Barraud's works. His works are also held in the Musée des beaux-arts in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the Coninx Museum in Zurich and the Foundation for Art, Culture and History in Winterthur.
La Langoureuse
Palette et pinceaux
L'atelier
La luronne
Yvonne in a Velvet Dress
Le maurauder
Jeune femme en jaune
Les songes creux
Le philatheliste
Tailleuses de soupe
Le Malcontent
A la toilette
Self-Portrait
The Painting Session
Les roulottes
The Chinese Trinket
Bouquet
La belle Marie
Quatre femmes
Mädchenkopf
Pêches
Dame mit Fuchsstola
Porträt eines Mädchens mit blauer Haarmasche
Stillleben mit Begonien im Topf
Nature morte aux roses blanches
Nature morte aux pommes
Marie à l'écharpe rouge et bleue
La Femme aux poissons
Le Bouquet de Chardons
Nature morte aux fleurs
Tête
Les casse-dents
Femme au bonnet vert
Brustbildnis eines Herrn mit Hut
Bouquet d'anémones
François married Marie, a French woman, in 1924. Marie subsequently featured as a model in several of his paintings.
