Campus Landscape Prints

Born in 1949 in the region of Brittany in France, Francois “Fanch” Ledan is the youngest child of a doctor and a dentist. In his youth, he was educated locally but it was not long before he decided to study in Paris. It was here that he earned three bachelor’s degrees in mathematics, science, and philosophy by the age of nineteen. In addition, this city, with its charm and passionate life, drew Fanch into its famed art scene. While he continued along a professional path, he explored his artistic interests and traveled extensively. A combination of these aspects of his life led him to enroll in an MBA program at Sacramento State University in 1972 while pursuing a career in art in San Francisco. The following year was an auspicious one for Fanch - he earned his MBA and was offered his first exhibition after showing some of his paintings to a San Francisco gallery director. He began to realize he could make a living by chasing his passion, and spent the next decade and a half living in California and traveling to France and other European countries for artistic inspiration. Fanch’s popularity and fame grew as he exhibited his art all around the world, including locations as diverse as London, New York, Los Angeles, and Tel Aviv. Fanch’s inspiration expresses itself in his signature style. His work is often a study in contrasts, presenting a careful balance of the real and the possible in his interior and exterior landscapes. The exuberance evident in the color and bustle of the images he paints are balanced by his worldly knowledge and an unidentifiable underlying tension. Using high vantage points and deep, distant views, Fanch has the talent of drawing viewers into his work while keeping them removed. His skills intrigue and fascinate collectors around the world, making Fanch one of the most respected and noted artists of today.The art crafted by Fanch Ledan, known today primarily by his Breton nickname “Fanch,” is inextricably tied to the events of his life. While a student in Paris at the Ecole Superieure des Sciences Commerciales in 1968, Fanch’s artwork was accepted by several galleries and major European exhibitions. He soon abandoned commercial design in favor of full-time studies in painting and fine art. In 1972 he entered the MBA program at Sacramento State University and started to display his original acrylic paintings in galleries in California and New York. In 1975, after he learned the difficult technique of lithography, his first edition of lithography was published by Tallandier in Paris. He is noted for delightful scenes of his native Brittany and locales from around the world, executed in a colorful “primitive” or “naïve” style. Similar in feel and style to Michel Delacroix, Jan Balet, James Rizzi and Charles Fazzino. Fanch creates imaginary scenes that run the gamut from worldly and exotic destinations to intimate interiors. Both his landscapes and interiorscapes have a romantic mood and beckon the viewer to enter them. He tries to express both a sense of whimsy and technical detail in each scene. Fanch will often create combinations of locations that cannot exist in reality, like a view of the Taj Mahal or the Pyramids of Egypt...