French cancan
linocut print by Christian Gerber 2019
21th century
42 x 29,7 cm
16.50 x 11.42 in.
monogram bottom left, dated and numbered 2/9

Christian Gerber was born in 1957 in Lausanne, Switzerland. He grew up in the middle of the fields and cows, in a Vaud farm, surrounded by a large family.

Like his parents and grandparents, he chose the farming profession. In 1975, he moved to an estate in the southwest of France, at the estate of Ribonnet, where he embarked on viticulture. He quickly took a liking to the profession of winegrower.

Around the age of 50, Christian Gerber began to take an interest in the use of lime white with wine lees. He starts small experiments on wooden panels with 2 or 3 shades of red wine lees mixed with lime, soon followed bythe use of natural pigments to diversify colors.

Soon he is expanding his interest in clay, which abounds in the surrounding lands, and its use in all shapes. He quickly realizes that, used alone, the clay becomes too brittle by drying and adding oil, which is also produced on the estate, obtains an ocher-colored emulsion. This base is used as is on the background of paintings he paints on a variety of media: worn filter plates, canvas, wood, wallpaper, glossy paper and cardboard. Colors come from basic dyes mixed with gum arabic and water