At the art academy, the young André Evard met Professor Charles L’Eplattenier – a painter strongly influenced by Art Nouveau, who developed a regionally rooted variant of this style with his “Style Sapin”. L’Eplattenier’s teaching was distinguished by its individual approach: he placed great emphasis on the precise observation of nature and the subsequent abstraction of its forms. These values profoundly shaped Evard’s artistic work.
Thus, Evard’s early works, in particular, can be attributed to Art Nouveau – characterized by organic lines, floral elements, and a decorative aesthetic. Together with his fellow students, including the later world-renowned Le Corbusier and Léon Perrin, Evard had the opportunity to participate in the design of Villa Fallet in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Within this artists’ collective, he took responsibility for the decorative elaboration of the facade – a work that impressed with its harmonious design and brought him further commissions.
Although Evard later moved away stylistically from Art Nouveau, its influence remained palpable in his work for a long time.
