A Trait of Freedom, charcoal on paper

By Gilone de Clermont-Tonnerre

From 16 July to 31 August 2025

“Gilone’s charcoals obey nothing. Each line is born of a raw, sincere impulse, free from codes. In this face-to-face encounter with the white sheet and the black, it is the freedom of movement, of breath, of being that is inscribed on the page” Marco Benagli

 

Born in Paris, Gilone grew up with a pencil in her hand. Everything is an excuse to draw: family, trees, animals and especially horses, her passion. But it wasn’t long before she picked up her brushes and threw herself body and soul into oil painting on canvas.

She completed her artistic training in Madrid and then Oxford. Back in Paris, Gilone joined the very exclusive studio of the painter Mac Avoy, who took her under his wing. She worked in London, then in Paris in her own studio. After exhibiting at the Salon d’Automne and the Salon des Indépendants, she had several solo shows in Paris and won over collectors.

Already in her paintings you can feel the strength of the revolt brewing within her. This desire to break the shackles. But she gave free rein to this desire with the discovery of charcoal.

Known for her powerful, dreamlike world, the artist has developed an exceptional mastery of charcoal on coloured veils. She expresses herself in large formats with bold compositions where fictional, semi-figurative characters mingle with rich, mysterious backgrounds.

With this piece of charcoal that has made humanity transpire, she marks with broad strokes, she crosses out, she scratches the white paper with ferocity allowing us to glimpse, between the angry shadows, the depth of a clarity in which we lose ourselves. Its strength leaves no one indifferent.

One of his admirers and collectors, Marco Benagli, sailor, artist and winegrower, says of his work: “I’ve been living with Gilone’s charcoals for years. When I open my eyes in the morning, the charcoals are there like friends, their presence part of my space. I’ve always looked at them. They speak to me quietly. They open a wide window onto his world of struggles, dreams and desires. By looking at them so often, you enter another world, your own.”

For her part, with sincerity and a certain candour, Gilone explains: “In front of me was the nothingness of a large sheet of paper. And suddenly a shadow appears, a relief and the desire to make a stroke. The gesture guides me. I discover the images, the structure, the universe more than I conceive them. Once the architecture has been laid down, comes the long, precise work of creating volumes, backgrounds and depth. This is my absolute space of freedom”.