British by birth,
alpine by light.

Franchesca Beau paints the mountains she lives in — the Saanenland and the Pays d'Enhaut, in oil, in every season and every light.

Born in London and raised in the countryside near Oxford, she grew up around animals and open land — the two subjects that have never left her work. Twenty-four years of painting in Southern California taught her strong light and saturated colour; the Alps taught her weather, atmosphere, and restraint.

Today she lives and works in Rougemont, a village of weathered chalets fifteen minutes from Gstaad, and exhibits exclusively at her own gallery, Atelier Beaux Arts, on the village street. The paintings are made a few steps from where they hang.

The work

Landscapes of the surrounding valleys and peaks form the core of the collection — from small 40 cm studies to canvases over a metre and a half wide. Alongside them: animals painted with unmistakable character, and still lifes of flowers from alpine gardens.

Lessons in the studio

Franchesca teaches private and small-group painting sessions in the gallery studio — colour, composition and atmosphere, for beginners and experienced painters alike. Sessions are arranged individually.