André Bosmans. The pitchfork, the pen and the paintbrush

André Bosmans

The Pitchfork, the Pen and the Paintbrush

by Guy Leyder

Rearing cattle and painting pictures are two pursuits that are rarely compatible. For the farmer-painter André Bosmans (1922–2014), juggling both was a matter of survival. His paintings capture, with accuracy and sensitivity, the very essence of rural life in the Ardennes. Like windows opening onto a bygone world, they reveal a simple life, governed by the slow rhythm of the seasons, religious customs and traditions, a life centred on collective behaviour and solidarity, a self-sufficient existence in balance with a natural world that is, nevertheless, so ungenerous.

With Guy Leyder, a farmer, as the principal author, this book aims to situate André Bosmans’s work and perspective within the broader context of the evolution of rural society and the both prodigious and worrying acceleration it has undergone since the 1950s, signalling the end of traditional peasantry and paving the way for agribusiness.

With contributions from José Bové, René Collin, Guy Gilquin, Guy Leyder and Paul Mathieu, this publication by the Piconrue – Musée de la Grande Ardenne goes beyond the traditional framework of history and ethnology. Its multifaceted approaches allow us to take a more nuanced view not only of the Ardennes and its popular culture, but also of our society today.