Léon Bongrain

Léon Bongrain also known as “Le Mécano” 1865, Provins – 1948, Seine-et-Marne, France. To date, we have little information about this astonishing artist, the missing link in modern naive or primitive art. After the Great War Léon Bougrain left his job in the automotive industry to devote himself to drawing and painting. Spotted by critic Maurice Raynal, his watercolours were exhibited in 1922 by a well-known Parisian gallerist Georges Chéron, receiving enthusiastic praise from journalists and collectors alike.His astonishing sense of colour and perspective, as well as the almost mystical aura, with which he enveloped the most prosaic things, have lost none of their charm or mystery over the years.