The "Case Palmier Plage" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Finally was able to pay for the piece of artwork that Carol and I had purchased from Paul Elliott Thuleau at the Galerie Tropismes in Grand Case, St. Martin.  For years Carol and I had been visiting the Caribbean island of St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  One of our favorite places to eat during our visits was the little town of Grand Case which is known as the gourmet capital of the Caribbean.  But, spread amongst the many fabulous restaurants on the beachfront street are clothing stores, jewelry stores and art galleries.  During our first visit we found the gallery named Galerie Tropismes which featured the work of French artist Paul Elliot Thuleau.  

Paul Elliott Thuleau

He happened to be in the gallery the first time we entered to view the artwork and Carol fell in love with both his work and his good looks.  Paul began his career as an artist in 1979 after finishing high school and spending two years in architecture school in Paris.  It was at that point that he left France and traveled to Rome, Athens and Crete.  Two years later he returned to Paris to attend the Goetz academy to study drawing, painting and engraving.  Over the next few years he did engraving in Paris, was a set designer for a dance company in Paris, assisted in making commercial movies and working as an assistant for a sculptor in New York City, was a set designer for french movies, got married to French movie producer Sophie Revil and had two daughters.  In

Paul holds the print we purchased from him.

1998 he left Paris for St. Martin, changed his name to Paul Elliot and returned to figurative art.  During the years from 2001-2005 he was an art professor for St. Martin High School as well as creating the Art Lovers Association.  It was in 2005 that he opened gallery Tropismes in Grand Case where we got to meet him.  He now has his work in islands such as Anguilla, St. Barts, St. Kitts, Curacao, Saba, St. Thomas and St. Martin.  He has had exhibitions in most of the previous islands listed as well as Paris, Antigua, Nevis, Luxenbourg, Japan, Montreal, Dusseldorf, New York and Bulgaria.  

Hanging on our wall at home.

As you can see he is an exceptionally accomplished artist.  During our visits to St. Martin in 2008, we decided to purchase one of his Giclees on paper.  Carol and I love his artwork, mainly his simplicity, brilliant colors and shadows/highlights that he expresses in his Carribean "Cases", or houses which he paints.  He possesses a calmness which is expressed in his paintings.  Its this simplicity that he favors in his painting of his "Cases Creoles".  We narrowed our choices to about half a dozen and then spent another half hour making our final decision.  Our final choice was a Giclee titled "Case Palmier Plage".  We just love the brilliant blues, aquas and oranges as well as the pastel greens, tans and off-whites.  Now, it was time to pay for the Giclee.  I gave him my credit card and after a few minutes he told me it didn't work.  Funny since I had used it the day before.  Finally gave him a different card and this one worked.  Found out later the Credit card company was suspicious of the charge and wouldn't allow it.  Paul also gave us a signed soft cover book of his work.  I look through it often, wishing we could afford a few more of his prints.  We did buy a smaller print a few years ago titled "Grand Case Bleue".  It was part of poster, but it still looks great on the wall in our home.  I have included a few samples for you, but if you would like to see more of his work, check out the site: https://www.tropismesgallery.com/paul-elliott-thuleau-giclees.html.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

La Liseuse 

Case Politician

Rideau Rose Et Vert