Pierre-Henri BEYSSAC

Ecole Boulle, “Meilleur ouvrier de France” wood marquetry (2015)

At first, it was through family heritage that Pierre-Henri Beyssac turned to the world of wood. Then he discovered marquetry and was surprised to find himself showing boundless patience, clearly finding in it a way to satisfy his need for finesse and precision. Graduating top of his class, with a diploma in Arts and Crafts in his pocket, he went to Italy to the European Restoration Center in Florence. Then, on assignment in Reunion Island, he took time to create and seek a more personal expression. Back in France, Pierre-Henri Beyssac joined the workshop of Jean-Charles Spindler, near Strasbourg. He gradually learned new techniques, new formats and developed his technique by taking on new, more contemporary subjects and created Atelier Beyssac, his own marquetry workshop.

Now a marquetry artist based between the Drôme region and Paris, he constantly strives for innovation. Challenging his expertise and confronting it with trends, technologies, and other knowledge, Pierre-Henri Beyssac questions and pushes the boundaries of marquetry in order to reinvent its forms and uses.

He nourishes his creations with his surroundings, a hyper-present nature in which he enjoys losing himself, marquetry becoming the expression of an inner journey. He creates wall pieces that echo nature and are inspired by the material, the result of a spontaneous creative process, composed with great freedom, freeing himself from the preparatory drawing normally required for any creation. This allows him to achieve a speed of execution that is not an energy saver, but a means of investing in the realm of spontaneity.

Passionate about literature, languages ​​and history, his approach is like a means of expression, his creative process like a trance, thanks to which he experiences great freedom. "When I saw, I trace, without any possible retouching, like automatic writing”