# Josée Nadeau

Josée Nadeau is a Canadian painter and producer. She gained international recognition after spending 10 years as a protégée of European Art Expert Gérald Van der Kemp [fr], the curator of Claude Monet's Garden and Château de Versailles prior for a period of 27 years.

## Career

At the invitation of The curator and European Art Expert Gerald Van der Kemp and his wife Florence, Nadeau traveled to the garden of Claude Monet each year from 1998 to 2008 to paint and use the premises for inspiration while living on the grounds in the curator's private studio.
Nadeau’s work captured the attention of Van der Kemp and his wife, who introduced her to high society in Europe. After Van der Kemp’s passing in 2001, Florence invited Nadeau to sit at the head table at the Ball of Versailles and introduced her as her late husband’s preferred artist.
In 2006, Hubert de Givenchy received Nadeau at his home in Paris and praised her work. That same year in New York, Florence invited Nadeau to her annual luncheon at The Colony, where she was seated alongside retired art critic John Russell, who later praised her work.
Nadeau studied in Montréal at Concordia University Fine Arts with a concentration in drawing. In 2004 at New York Art Expo at The Kravitz Center Nadeau collaborated with HP printers where her paintings (images) were coming out of the press to test the quality of the printing of their color laser. This fair was attendee was over 80,000 people. Her painting of The Bull was equally displayed as The first image in the entryway as the guest entered the fair.
From 2010 to 2015, Nadeau was the artist-in-residence and guest artist at the World Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, where she painted horses, including Georgina Bloomberg’s “Diplomacy.” In 2012, Ralph Lauren’s head of displays invited Nadeau to show her equine series in both South and East Hampton.
Nadeau began to paint to music in front of an audience after meeting George Harrison, who sang to her for four hours at the home of Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil. Nadeau’s first performance in New York was on Broadway on April 19, 2005, where she painted to music by Tom Finn, a DJ from Studio 54, at the April in Paris Gala to raise funds for Dress for Success. In 2012, she produced a live performance painting on stage in front of an audience to The Salt Lake Symphony, creating two 8 feet x 8 feet paintings in 20 minutes each.
That same year, she was a guest at Dionne Warwick’s 50th-anniversary celebration concert in Miami, where she painted a large portrait of Dionne on stage while Warwick sang “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” in front of 1,000 people. In 2014, Nadeau painted Nelson Mandela at Riverside Church during a production of Footsteps of Mandela. Nadeau painted while Simon Estes sang during the event while UN dignitaries and South African were guest of Honor.
Nadeau 10 feet tall iconic painting of Olympian Stein Eriksen stands tall in the middle of the hotel of Stein Eriksen Lodge which can be seen from 3 different floors.
In 2015, Nadeau had a private show during Sundance where her guest was Lord Frederick Windsor and there equally was a live performance. The following year for the closing of Sundance Film Festival, Nadeau conducted a live painting session to portray the founding member of the band Train. The following year, Nadeau was asked to paint a depiction of Alto Reed, the saxophone player of Bob Seeger, at a charity event commemorating 6 months after the passing of Paul Walker. Both Scott Eastwood and Paul Walker’s brother Cody was the guest of honor. Nadeau has painted live along with symphonies, rock stars, opera singers, and royalty. She reportedly regarded George Harrison as her inspiration for having sung to her about 6 months prior to his passing.
Nadeau resides and paints from her studios in Florida and southern France.