Georges Gobeau dit Gobo (1876 - 1958)

Georges Gobeau was born in San Francisco, where his father, of Charente origin, had come to make his fortune after fighting in the Mexican War. When he was only 6, his father died. His family returned to France and settled in Angoulême.

He was apprenticed to a lithographer in the town, and developed a passion for drawing, lithography, watercolors and painting.

At the age of 24, he moved to Angers and became a member of the Société des amis des Arts, which invited him to exhibit his first works at its 1901 Salon. It was at this point that he adopted the pseudonym "Georges Gobo" (or "Gobô").

He exhibited for the first time in Paris in 1908, at the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts. Since then, Georges Gobo has participated in regional and national salons. He moved to Paris in 1911. He exhibited his etchings and lithographs at Galerie Georges Petit in 1916 and 1926, and his drawings and paintings at Bernheim Jeune in 1919 and Durand-Ruel in 1925.

Subsequently, Gobo traveled abroad to Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Spain and Morocco. There, he painted canvases or sketches of daily life and landscapes, which he then reproduced on copper.

However, it was in France, between his homes in Douarnenez and Angers, that he found his artistic inspiration. He produced numerous lithographs, etchings, washes, drawings and paintings. He also travels to St Jean de Luz and the Auvergne, where he is a regular guest at the famous École de Murol.