Born in 1934 Jean-Louis Simonin on the advice of his wife who noticed his talent enrolled in Robert Savary's course, professor at the Beaux-arts in Rouen in the 1970s. The artist will test all the techniques, oil, gouache, engraving but also collage. Quickly, he found his style, which he himself called expressionist. His subjects are therefore very often characters who question the viewer about his own dualities. He also paints in a more figurative style the landscapes he likes such as Normandy but also the Var having a workshop in the south of La Garde-Freinet near Saint-Tropez.