Paul Yvain (1919 - 2007)

Son of a doctor, he was born in Brest in 1919. After his secondary studies and his military service in the navy, he went to Paris to place his cartoons. Knowing how to handle the pencil with talent and impertinence, the self-taught cartoonist collaborates with many publications: Le Rire, Noir & Blanc, Radio 50, l'Équipe, as well as Ouest-France. His drawings are signed with his first pseudonym "Brévin" which he also keeps for his humorous decorations on ceramic. He returned to Kéraluc in 1947 and remained there until the closure of the company in 1984. Initially hired as a painter in the decoration workshop, he quickly changed his status to become an independent artist.

Paul Yvain's work is particularly dense and varied. The first pieces are marked by the imprint of the press cartoonist and his inclination to illustrate numerous themes drawn from Celtic and medieval legends by treating them with irony and impertinence. His graphics, at first clean and precise, became richer as he adapted flexibly to the specificities of earthenware and then stoneware.