Franck BRIERE

Honfleur at the tip of the brush

Born in Honfleur in 1965, Franck Brière is a painter deeply attached to his town and the maritime world that surrounds it. Coming from a family of fishermen, he naturally draws much of his inspiration from ports, boats, estuary landscapes and Normandy’s distinctive light.

Watercolours, paintings and mixed-media works portray a living Normandy, sometimes peaceful, sometimes more turbulent. Honfleur’s Vieux Bassin, the quays, fishing scenes, large ships and tugboats become subjects where realism, atmosphere and emotion come together.

His work is not limited to traditional images of Honfleur. The sea, industrial ports and maritime activity also play an important role in his work. A piece such as Neige sur la rade, remorquage rade du Havre illustrates this fascination with ships, water, reflections and harbour atmospheres.

Franck Brière thus forms part of the long history linking Honfleur and painters. But his perspective is that of a man who knows the port and its surroundings intimately: beyond the façades, quays and boats, he also captures part of the town’s maritime memory.

In 2025, the City of Honfleur dedicated a major exhibition to him at the Greniers à Sel, from 12 July to 17 August, presenting a broad selection of his works.

Discovering Franck Brière’s paintings is seeing Honfleur and the sea through the eyes of one of its artists.