Guy Hepner Gallery

Hugo Baudouin Le temps d’un câlin For Sale

Hugo Baudouin
Hugo Baudouin - Le temps d’un câlin, Oil on Jute

Le temps d’un câlin

Oil on Jute

150x130cm | 59x51 In

About this work

Hugo Baudouin has emerged as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary figurative painting, earning recognition for his ability to translate intimate human moments into compositions of remarkable emotional depth. Working primarily in oil on jute, Baudouin employs the coarse, tactile quality of the fabric to lend his subjects a raw physicality that distinguishes his practice from the polished surfaces favored by many of his contemporaries. His work has garnered attention across European institutions and private collections, positioning him as a significant figure among painters exploring themes of connection, vulnerability, and domestic life. *Le temps d'un câlin*—translated as "the time of an embrace"—exemplifies Baudouin's ongoing investigation into the gestures that define human closeness. At 150 by 130 centimeters, the work commands presence while maintaining the tenderness inherent in its subject matter. The jute ground absorbs and diffuses the oil pigments in ways that soften forms without diminishing their weight, creating figures that feel both grounded and dreamlike. This interplay between material and image reflects Baudouin's studied approach to surface, where texture becomes an active participant in meaning rather than mere substrate. The painting belongs to a body of work in which Baudouin examines fleeting physical contact—moments often overlooked yet essential to emotional experience. His palette and handling demonstrate a debt to both the European figurative tradition and contemporary approaches to narrative painting, resulting in images that feel simultaneously classical and urgently present. Guy Hepner invites collectors to inquire about acquiring this significant work by Hugo Baudouin.

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Edition & Provenance

Medium
Oil on Jute

More from this series

About the Paintings Series

This body of work marks a concentrated departure from Hugo Baudouin's figurative practice. In place of crowds and confronted identities, the focus narrows to a single object: the candle. Painted in oil on linen at an intimate scale, each work treats the subject with the same expressive line and psychological charge that defines Baudouin's broader output.

The candle is not a neutral subject. It carries ritual, desire, impermanence, and the body all at once. Baudouin leans into that ambiguity without resolving it. Some works are straightforward in their arrangement, wax and flame rendered with loose brushwork against saturated grounds. Others push the form into something stranger, shapes that coil and drip and curve away from what a candle is supposed to look like. The color is never incidental. Each work is built around a chromatic decision that shifts the emotional register entirely.

At this scale, the paintings are objects you live with rather than stand in front of. They suit a shelf, a desk, a wall corner. The intimacy of the format is part of what they're doing.

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Le temps d’un câlin

About Hugo Baudouin

Hugo Baudouin is a French artist based in Berlin. Before turning to painting, he spent years immersed in skateboarding and street culture, an influence that continues to shape the energy and attitude in his work. He came to painting through his studies in applied arts and interior design, developing his practice alongside that formal education.

Baudouin creates expressive, figurative work using a combination of oils, acrylics, and spray paint, centered on bold lines and exaggerated faces and characters. His paintings explore the idea of a hidden or inner self, drawing on social iconography and aesthetic fantasy to examine how identity shifts depending on whether a person is alone or surrounded by others. Figures in his work often appear as if caught mid expression, confronting the viewer directly and raising questions about persona, individuality, and the pressure to perform for an audience, whether in a crowd or online.

His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin, Guy Hepner in New York, and galleries across the UK, Germany, and Canada.

He continues to live and work in Berlin.

Guy Hepner works with collectors seeking Hugo Baudouin's bold, expressive figurative paintings. Contact us to discuss available inventory or to inquire about upcoming releases.

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