About the artist

René Cottet (1902–1992) is one of the great French engravers of the 20th century. Born on 25 November 1902 in Paris, the son of a seamstress, he turned to the art of intaglio printmaking at an early age.

He trained at the renowned École Estienne and at the École nationale des Beaux-Arts, among others under Auguste Laguillermie and Antoine François Dezarrois. In 1929 he received an honourable mention at the Salon des artistes français; in 1932, the second Grand Prix de Rome for engraving. From 1933 to 1934 he was a resident of the City of Paris at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid.

He went on to teach intaglio engraving at the École Estienne, shaping a whole generation of engravers. As a stamp artist he designed and engraved over 600 stamps – for France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Morocco, Tunisia and other countries; his first French stamp, the coat of arms of Marseille, appeared in 1941.

Cottet’s independent work spans Provençal landscapes, exotic animal scenes, opulent still lifes and fantastical compositions. The line always remains his tool: with burin and needle he modelled light and shadow from the sheer density of his hatching alone. He died in April 1992 in the Drôme. In 2008 his pupil Pierre Albuisson established the Prix René-Cottet in his honour.