Michel Delacroix (1933)

The Paris of Memory.
Michel Delacroix’s Paris is suspended in time, existing somewhere between history and a dream. His vision of the city was forged during the German occupation (1940–1944), a silent era when curfews emptied the streets and automobiles vanished.

In Le brasero, Delacroix continues his lifelong mission to archive this lost world. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, he deliberately chose the vocabulary of Naïve art—vibrant colors, distinct contours, and flattened perspective—to capture the innocence of a bygone era.

Why it matters: Delacroix is a Titan of the Naïve genre, particularly revered in the United States with over 300 exhibitions. His status was cemented globally when he served as the Official Artist of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. This is not just a decorative landscape; it is a piece of institutionalized nostalgia.