Gaston Chaissac was born in 1910 in Avallon, in Yonne, in a family of modest condition. After having practiced various small trades, from cooking to cobbler, he met the German painter Otto Freundlich who encouraged him to deepen his artistic vocation. In 1942, he married a young Vendée teacher, Camille Guibert, and moved with her to Boulogne, Vendée. Camille Chaissac is then appointed teacher at the public primary school of Sainte-Florence. The couple live there from 1948 to 1961. This is undoubtedly the most intense period in artistic research for Gaston Chaissac. Marginal anguished, often misunderstood by villagers and isolated from the world of Paris, Chaissac managed to fascinate and keep in touch with many intellectuals, among them, André Lhote, Aime Maeght, André Bloc, Jean Dubuffet, Benjamin Perret, Raymond Queneau, Jean Paulhan, Michel Ragon ...

The work of Gaston Chaissac is one of the most abundant and singular of the creation of the second half of the twentieth century. Figure unclassifiable, self-taught, freed from traditional conventions, the artist is initiated to all artistic expressions. His entire creation is based on experimentation. All techniques interact, from Indian ink to oil, through the collage and painting on objects of recovery.

Draftsman, painter, writer and poet, Gaston Chaissac is a transformer who keeps reinventing words, creating forms and diverting everyday materials.