Without wishing to flatter the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Caen, it can nevertheless be said that the School has over the years given many artists the chance to hone their creative skills and make an impressive start to their careers.

     Gaston Hélie is just one of these artists. He has recently taken part in top-class regional exhibitions, not mentioning the prestigious Salon des Artistes Français and the Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris, which have reinforced his career now marked by numerous prizes and awards of which he can be justly proud.

     With their alternatively velvety and fruity pastel shades, Gaston Hélie's works are noted for their graceful brush-strokes that follow sensuous curves, rendering even more effective the subjects captured with compelling generosity and a descriptive fullness that exudes charm and a bold spirit of composition.

     His work is both hardy and delectable, two impressions that combine harmoniously in his rich portrayal of market places seething with lively and intriguing crowds. Many of his paintings in their tumultuous outburst of colours convey an exemplary expression of pleasure.

André RUELLAN, art critic