SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
A self-taught French painter associated with naïve art, Germain Van der Steen — also known as Germain Vandersteen Mauduit Larive — developed a practice that progressed through a non-figurative period, vividly coloured imaginary plants and bestiaries dominated by cats and birds. Born in Versailles on 7 July 1897 and died in Garches on 12 April 1985, he painted at night while initially working as a colour merchant in Paris.
After studying in England and obtaining a degree from Oxford, he was mobilised during the First World War and gassed. After the armistice, he became a colour merchant in the Étoile district of Paris; he continued his self-taught painting practice at night. Accounts of his work distinguish three periods: an initial non-figurative phase, followed by compositions of imaginary, multicoloured plants accompanied by drapery, and then by bestiaries depicting mainly cats and birds. The bestiary also features in the written reception of his work: in 1955, Anatole Jakovsky published a critical essay entitled Le bestiaire de Vandersteen with Éditions Caractères in Paris.
He exhibited at the Salon d’automne in 1944, then at Galerie Louise in Paris in 1950 and at Hutter in Basel in 1951. In 2002, La création du monde d’après Darius Milhaud was presented in the exhibition « Démon et merveilles » at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice. An exhibition entitled « Œuvres de Germain Vandersteen » was subsequently presented at the Musée et centre d’art de Lapalisse until 15 September 2012.
An auction entry under his name describes Le Chat, a mixed-media work on paper combining collage and painting, signed at the lower left and bearing a Galerie Pro Arte Kasper label on the reverse; its dimensions are given as 52 × 63 cm sight. Another entry describes Nativité au pot à lait, oil on board signed at the lower centre, whose reverse label bears the title and a date of circa 1950; the work measures 46 × 37.5 cm. The Musée international d’art naïf de Vicq holds Le Déluge, an oil on canvas.
This profile brings together identity references for Germain Vandersteen and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
5 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky, DognyAuction. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Oil on artist’s board
"Nativité au pot à lait".
Öl auf Malkarton
Date to be documented
Published result : 250 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 500
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Mixed media — Germain VANDERSTEEN (1897-1985), “The Cat”, mixed media on paper
Le Chat
technique mixte — Germain VANDERSTEEN (1897-1985), "Le Chat", technique mixte sur papier
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 700–800
View the lot at the auction house ↗Mixed media — Germain VANDERSTEEN (1897-1985), “The Cat”, mixed media on paper
Le Chat
technique mixte — Germain VANDERSTEEN (1897-1985), "Le Chat", technique mixte sur papier
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 900–1200
View the lot at the auction house ↗These references are shown separately because of their attribution or lot composition. Each record states the reason.
Gouache on paper
Les fleurs
Gouache sur papier
Dédicace datée 1992 ; décès en 1985 indiqué dans le catalogue
Date to be documented
Dedication dated 1992; death year given in the catalogue: 1985
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 600–800
View the lot at the auction house ↗Gouache on paper
Les fleurs
Gouache sur papier
Dédicace datée 1992 ; décès en 1985 indiqué dans le catalogue
Date to be documented
Dedication dated 1992; death year given in the catalogue: 1985
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 1000–2000
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
