Eric Marette was born in 1967 in Vernon, France, a small town in Normandy, and he started drawing as a young child. His school notebooks were covered with sketches of faces, animals, and trees. By the age of 12 or 13, he was already experimenting with oil painting and creating his first canvases.
He is a self-taught artist who briefly studied advertising after high school but eventually returned to his true passion. He was influenced by the impressionists and later by academic painters like Bouguereau and Alma-Tadema. In 2012, after a six-year break from painting, he returned with a new focus on acrylics and realistic portraits.
His work is now known for its hyper-realistic quality, often making it hard to tell the difference between his paintings and photographs. He creates portraits of sadhus from India, movie stars, singers, and African tribes like the Himba and Dogon people. His portraits are filled with emotion and expression, capturing the attitude and spirit of his subjects.
“He tries to create items of each Stock of surprise in his portraits, the way I crop ’em, or the expression of the attitude.”
He has exhibited his work in many salons and galleries across France and has won several awards, including first prize in Bailleen in 1999 and Marcilly-sur-Eure in 2000. His paintings have also been featured in films, including the movie “Dédales” by René Manzor. He continues to create inspiring and surprising works of art.
Q: What defines Eric Marette’s artistic style?
A: His hyper-realistic acrylic portraits that capture the emotion and attitude of his subjects. He paints a wide range of people, from Indian sadhus to African tribes, and his work is known for its surprising detail and expressive quality.