Claude Petitet French , 1922-1966

Claude Petitet was a French painter, born in Paris in 1922. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the studio of Nicolas Untersteller, and in 1948 was awarded the Premier Second Grand Prix de Rome for painting for his composition Trois femmes à la fontaine.

Following his studies, Petitet became a member of the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, as part of its 1950–1951 promotion. His time in Spain provided an important source of inspiration, and he produced a number of portraits of Spanish women during his stay.

Petitet worked primarily as a figurative painter, producing portraits, figures and compositions in oil, gouache and watercolour. His work is represented in the collections of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, including Les Hespérides (1945), Figure peinte (1945) and Étude de portrait (1946). He also exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons and undertook private portrait commissions.

Petitet died in Nogent-sur-Marne in 1996, aged 74.