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Lot Essay
Born of a Scottish mother, of Celtic origin, traveler, very open to the world and active in the fields of health and a Swiss father, traveler too and expert in many cultural fields, co-author of several exhibitions on Asian cultures in Switzerland and France, Wido de Marval is emancipated in an artistic environment, surrounded by art collections.
Early on, he was rocked by travel stories and was educated in Hinduism and Buddhism by his adoptive grandmother, Adélaïde Verneuil de Marval, painter and wife of Maurice Pillard-Verneuil, himself an artist and important theorist of Art Nouveau. Their eleventh century home is a paradise for the young man, amazed by the works of art collected during their explorations.
In 2013, already fascinated by the Swiss world of watchmaking, Wido came across an exciting television report about the work of master watchmaker “Combier” Philippe Dufour. The images of this man who embodies the authentic values of Swiss craftsmanship, polishing tiny corners with branches of gentian smoking his pipe, speak to his heart. Wido, himself a loner, is moved by this figure of a modern hermit, busy with an activity that seems almost obsolete in an era of high-tech machines and computers. One detail strikes him, it is in Japan, a country he visits frequently, that Philippe Dufour is recognized first at its fair value.
It was during a one-year initiation trip to many Indonesian islands and the South Pacific in 2018 that Wido de Marval, previously specialized in tattoo and Japanese culture, settled for a few months on the big island of Hawaii. He set up a temporary studio and painted daily, relentlessly self-taught to tame the oil technique.
From the beginning, his instinctive style naturally fits into the aesthetics of the Swiss school of the late 19th century but with a touch of modernism.
In 2019, Wido traveled to Shikoku Island to walk the 1,200-kilometre Buddhist pilgrimage of Shikoku. He completed the long journey in 66 days, after meditating at length in each of the 88 temples. After this upsetting experience, Wido spent two months in Polynesia, writing daily, then went to Bali to carve masks in a family of artisans and attended palaces and ceremonies with a renowned Balinese artist.
The global pandemic forces him to return to Switzerland in March 2020. Determined to continue his work as a portrait artist, Wido contacted Philippe Dufour. He then discovers an intact universe, sheltered in an old school in Solliat and finds the master at the window, observing the edge of the forest, his pipe in hand, leaning on his tower. Struck by this presence, this is how he decides to represent this living national treasure, in a moment of fleeting but perfect meditation, observing the woods in which he likes to recharge his batteries.
Early on, he was rocked by travel stories and was educated in Hinduism and Buddhism by his adoptive grandmother, Adélaïde Verneuil de Marval, painter and wife of Maurice Pillard-Verneuil, himself an artist and important theorist of Art Nouveau. Their eleventh century home is a paradise for the young man, amazed by the works of art collected during their explorations.
In 2013, already fascinated by the Swiss world of watchmaking, Wido came across an exciting television report about the work of master watchmaker “Combier” Philippe Dufour. The images of this man who embodies the authentic values of Swiss craftsmanship, polishing tiny corners with branches of gentian smoking his pipe, speak to his heart. Wido, himself a loner, is moved by this figure of a modern hermit, busy with an activity that seems almost obsolete in an era of high-tech machines and computers. One detail strikes him, it is in Japan, a country he visits frequently, that Philippe Dufour is recognized first at its fair value.
It was during a one-year initiation trip to many Indonesian islands and the South Pacific in 2018 that Wido de Marval, previously specialized in tattoo and Japanese culture, settled for a few months on the big island of Hawaii. He set up a temporary studio and painted daily, relentlessly self-taught to tame the oil technique.
From the beginning, his instinctive style naturally fits into the aesthetics of the Swiss school of the late 19th century but with a touch of modernism.
In 2019, Wido traveled to Shikoku Island to walk the 1,200-kilometre Buddhist pilgrimage of Shikoku. He completed the long journey in 66 days, after meditating at length in each of the 88 temples. After this upsetting experience, Wido spent two months in Polynesia, writing daily, then went to Bali to carve masks in a family of artisans and attended palaces and ceremonies with a renowned Balinese artist.
The global pandemic forces him to return to Switzerland in March 2020. Determined to continue his work as a portrait artist, Wido contacted Philippe Dufour. He then discovers an intact universe, sheltered in an old school in Solliat and finds the master at the window, observing the edge of the forest, his pipe in hand, leaning on his tower. Struck by this presence, this is how he decides to represent this living national treasure, in a moment of fleeting but perfect meditation, observing the woods in which he likes to recharge his batteries.