About

It all started when…

As a gifted French artist and illustrator born in Cambodia to French Foreign Service parents, Michel Ropion did not follow in his two older brothers’ footsteps into art school. Instead, he became a Civil Engineer. That however never stifled his creativity. He continued to paint and draw while traveling, working, and living around the world with his young family; from the Middle East to South Asia, from India to the Far East and South Africa.

In South Africa, he met Clément Serneels, a Belgian painter, who taught him the intricacies of oil painting. In Singapore, a Chinese master painter instilled in him a love of brush strokes, proportion and layout.

Retiring at an early age, Michel Ropion and his loving wife Anne lived for over two decades in the Himalayas, close to the Tibetan community, where he got a lot of his inspiration for his vibrant landscapes and portraits. Anne, always by his side, was always his keenest supporter and guided him creatively by having herself an amazing and unique sense of color, of scale, of design, of creative bounty. They were a creative duo to be reckoned with. She was his guiding light. Over the years, they continued traveling to visit their children and grandchildren, themselves based on all sides of the globe. He is now based in the Netherlands.

Michel Ropion’s paintings, whether done with acrylic on canvas, canvas board or Arches paper, bear the color, strength, verticality, and spirituality of the rugged, high-altitude, Himalayan rocky deserts and the charm of the people who inhabit them.

~ In loving memory of Michèle Anne Ropion-Glory