Benjamin Saint-Martin

To feel the essence of the subject, to translate it, and to breathe life into it.

A multifaceted artist, draftsman, and painter based in Bordeaux, Benjamin Saint-Martin embraced his vocation at a very young age. At just 17, he joined the graphic design school Créasud, now known as École de Condé. There, he earned his diploma as a graphic illustrator and was awarded 4th place in the prestigious national Tria competition, organized by the famous marker brand beloved by designers.

He soon turned toward mural painting and completed an apprenticeship alongside his teacher Alain Artic at the La Teste Zoo — a formative experience that led him to Brussels, to the Van der Kelen School, a legendary institution founded in 1882 and the only one in the world to teach the ancestral techniques of decorative painting. There, he earned a diploma as a decorative painter before further enriching his practice through a decisive encounter with Michel Nadai. This collaboration took him to Scotland, where he spent eight months working on the restoration of Stirling Castle for Historic Scotland. He hand-painted figurative oil decorations and learned the art of tempera — an ancient technique made with egg or fig milk, both demanding and delicate.

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Back in France, his path led him once again to the heart of heritage. At the Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux, he met Laurent Marzano, with whom he has collaborated for over ten years within the company L’Décors. Together, they restore castles and private mansions in the Médoc and Bordeaux regions. Yet Benjamin never stops learning. He honed his drawing skills under Jean-Pierre Beyries, then joined the ABC workshop of Nadine Denjean, with whom he taught for four years. “Those years shaped my eye, my discipline, and my deep appreciation for the old masters: Rubens, Delacroix, Géricault, Constable…”

Today, his studio is also a place of transmission. He teaches drawing and painting there, notably at the APB Association in Bègles, as well as in the audiovisual and design schools 3iS and Ynov, where he introduces students to the fundamentals of life drawing and observational sketching. His first solo exhibition, Trait Sauvage, opened in October 2022 — a pastel bestiary full of vitality and emotion. That same year, Pratique des Arts magazine published one of his sanguine portraits.

In 2023, he was commissioned by Montblanc to illustrate the new “Master of Art – Vincent Van Gogh” collection with a series of portraits exhibited at the Galerie Bouillon d’Art in Bordeaux. A discreet yet significant recognition for this artist of precision, refined gesture, and sensitive gaze.

Today, Benjamin Saint-Martin continues his journey, faithful to line, motif, and light. His sketchbooks and canvases grow richer with the passing seasons, faces, silences, and movements of the soul — like an endless voyage through the details of life itself.