Michel Sarazin French, b. 1942

Michel Sarazin is a French painter known for his luminous, expressive compositions that celebrate colour, atmosphere, and everyday life. Born in 1942 in Neuilly, France, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Caen, where he developed the foundations of his painterly technique and long-standing focus on light, form, and emotional tone.

Sarazin is a Sociétaire of the Salon d’Automne in Paris and a laureate of the Fondation Taylor, both significant markers of recognition within the French art establishment. His training and early professional development placed him firmly within the post-war French tradition of figurative painting, while allowing him to develop a highly personal visual language.

From the 1980s onwards, Sarazin became known for his distinctive use of oil pastel on board and oil painting, creating works that are often described as vibrant, optimistic, and emotionally immediate. His compositions frequently explore interiors, urban scenes, and figures, often infused with pattern, movement, and a strong sense of lived atmosphere.

He has exhibited widely across France and internationally, including galleries in Paris, Strasbourg, Le Havre, Nantes, Honfleur, and Tours, as well as further afield in Houston and Quebec, reflecting an established international collector base. His work has been shown in both solo and group exhibitions and remains present in private collections in Europe and beyond.

Sarazin continues to be associated with a joyful, colour-led approach to painting, often drawing comparisons to the expressive domestic intimacy of artists such as Matisse and Bonnard, while maintaining a distinctive contemporary voice rooted in postwar French painting traditions.

Today, Michel Sarazin’s work is collected for its immediacy, warmth, and its ability to transform everyday scenes into moments of light, colour, and quiet optimism.