Robert Yan Brittany

Robert Yan (born Yann Robert), born November 10, 1901 in Arcachon and died October 6, 1994 in Lorient, is a French watercolor painter. Son of a sea captain, Robert Yan was born in 1901 in Arcachon. While he was still very young, his father moved with his family to Quintin, then to Landerneau. His first vocation was architecture, and he joined the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in 1920. He opted for painting in 1924 and entered the studio of Eugène Narbonne (1885-1973). He began at the Salon de la Société nationale des beaux-arts in 1928, then exhibited in galleries in Brest, Paris and Concarneau. In 1929, he went on a grand tour of Brittany, which will remain his major source of inspiration. He also painted Vernon, in Normandy, as well as Sologne and the Drôme mountains. He became a member of the Salon des artistes français in 1934. The same year, he joined the Seiz Breur movement, chaired by René-Yves Creston, whom he had met at the École des beaux-arts in 1923. In 1937, he participated with Pierre Bertrand in the decoration of the Fishing and Agriculture room of the Brittany Pavilion of the 1937 Exhibition, which earned him a medal. He was president of the Salon des Indépendants from 1965 to 1976. He was appointed painter of the Navy in 1973 and became friends with Henri Barnoin, Pierre Bertrand, René-Yves Creston, Lucien Delpy, Maurice Ménardeau and Pierre Péron.