In conversation with Charlotte Winifred Guérard

“Every day looks different in the studio, but one thing that gets me going is having several types of work going on at once.”

 - Charlotte Winifred Guérard

Charlotte Winifred Guérard

For decades, Sir Paul Smith has championed art and artists – from a 30-year scholarship with the Royal Academy Schools to a collection of over 10,000 works of art exhibited in stores worldwide. Originals from major household names such as Damien Hirst, Lynette Yiadom-Boake and Banksy are showcased alongside works from early career artists in a globally rotating programme of showcases and selling exhibitions. To date, over 120 artists have exhibited their work around the world with Paul Smith, including existing and especially commissioned pieces. And in 2020, continuing his dedication to supporting early career artists, Paul Smith launched Paul Smith’s Foundation, with the goal of supporting early-career creative people in fashion, visual arts, and design.

It was the inaugural Director of Paul Smith’s Foundation, Martha Mosse, who first conceived of the International Art Prize, which is in partnership with Winsor & Newton and which remains one of the brand’s key initiatives. Designed to support the winning artists in building networks, growing audiences and aligning them with local figures of industry – whilst also providing an opportunity to freely create – the Winsor & Newton x Paul Smith’s Foundation International Art Prize is now in its second year. Six new artists have been chosen, this time in London, Nottingham, Copenhagen, Antwerp, New York and Shanghai. 

Having enjoyed seeing her Royal Academy of Arts showcase in the summer, we were excited to have the opportunity to speak with the London winner, Charlotte Winifred Guérard, about her work and the prize. Charlotte recently completed her final year at the Royal Academy of Arts School as a Paul Smith’s Foundation scholar, and recent exhibitions include those at the RA, Coleman Project Space,Fitzrovia Gallery, Messums and Palmer Gallery. She has completed a number of prestigious residencies, including the Porthmeor Studio 5 residency, St Ives, with the Freelands Foundation. 

Charlotte primarily makes paintings, exploring the ways these can be displayed or set into motion: In a machine on a boat, as a backdrop for dancers, or as screens on wheels. Her practice combines intuitive processes of experimenting with the material of paint, centring around the ways in which paintings can be viewed, activated and displayed. Her work explores the notions of painting in space and paintings in motion while the narrative of her images is influenced by her immediate surroundings, landscapes, the everyday and memory. 

How did you begin your journey into art? Did you grow up in a creative environment?

I was always curious about making things, and I was lucky to have enthusiastic parents who encouraged me in that way. My grandad was a painter, and even though he passed away when I was young, his spirit was always felt along the way. My family are also great storytellers, so that fed into my own interest in narrations through images.

How about your more formal art education?

After completing a Baccalauréat Littéraire in France, I moved to the UK to do my Art Foundation at Bedford College, which was really good. Then I went on to Brighton University on the Painting Programme. There, I was taught partly by Oliver Gosling, who had worked in China for years and instigated my interest in the notion of space and the resonance of mark-making. I also made lifelong friends there who are still part of my creative peers today.

I had a couple of years working independently over the pandemic period and decided to apply to the Royal Academy of Arts Schools in 2022. This is where I completed my postgraduate programme earlier this year, after three years of an incredible educational experience.

Royal Academy of Arts Schools Class of 2025 final exhibition. Installation shot, photography by Jon Archdeacon

What are your main inspirations? 

First and foremost, my family, my loved ones, and artist friends. When it comes to creative inspirations, I draw a lot on “the things of life”; everything feels worth noticing. Small encounters, people, light, architecture, conversations, thoughts … 

Most of these things are translated into drawings or images and inspire my practice.

Are there any artists (or any other types of creative) that you often look to?

I often go back to Helen Frankenthaler when I work "horizontally”. I look at Milton Avery, Pierre Bonnard or Claire Tabouret for colour; Jessicka Stockholder, Vivian Sutter, Hélio Oiticica for colour in space; and Pina Bausch, Joan Jonas or Merce Cunningham for movement. I also love the work of Lubaina Himid, Amy Sillman, Ithell Colquhoun, Ragnar Kjartansson, Patrick Heron, and the list goes on.

"Lobster legs/ An Unwanted past", 2024, Instillation shot Royal Academy of Arts". photography by Andy Keate 

Can you speak about your creative process? What mindset are you usually in when making art? Do you have any studio rituals?

Every day looks different in the studio, but one thing that gets me going is having several types of work going on at once. At the moment I shift between meticulous coloured pencil drawings, oil paintings, a large canvas which requires me to work mostly from up a ladder, and maquettes for paper theatre. That way if one thing gets a little repetitive, I just have to turn around and get excited about the next project.

What does it mean to you to be the London winner for Paul Smith’s Foundation and Winsor & Newton International Art Prize?

I am really honoured to have been chosen as this year’s London winner. Paul Smith’s Foundation is an important patron of the arts, in all its forms, so it feels important to be rewarded by them. It is also amazing to be granted material support by Winsor & Newton, which will allow me to broaden my technical experimentations.

Tell us a bit about the work you will have on show at Paul Smith for the exhibition P.O.V – Defining Your Point of View.

My work in the show is a three-part oil painting on wooden panels. This is its description in the words of the writer Sam Della-Valle:

“Vue du train”

One hundred thousand shapes smudged below violet bushes. In the reflection in the window behind me a ghost reclines, and beyond her I watch only the present, abstracted by speed, and over-images of a past I long to hold, cheerfully.

Vue du train, 2025

In addition to materials and monetary winnings, part of the prize involves mentorship from one of the judges based in your city – in your case, Mark Rappolt, Editor in Chief of Art Review.How do you hope this guidance will support you going forward?

I am really looking forward to working with Mark Rappolt. Establishing mentoring relations with other professionals in the creative field feels crucial to me.

How important are prizes like this for young artists?

These prizes are fundamental to all artists really, as they offer an opportunity for support in funding artmaking and a platform for visibility. Championing creativity is especially poignant today when being an artist feels more and more difficult to sustain.

 "Matthew's Boat", 2024 St Ives. photography by Zoe Gillett

The [Quick] #FLODown:

 Any upcoming projects of note that you can discuss?

I am currently taking part in the Good Eye Projects residency alongside 5 other artists. We will be having an end-of-residency presentation in mid-January. I am also part of an exhibition at the Embassy of Iceland called the “Postcard for Seyðisfjörður”, a project organised by the h_a_r_d_p_a_i_n_t_i_n_g association.

What have been the most rewarding moments of your career thus far?

Probably working in Porthmeor Studios (St Ives) in the summer of 2024. This was a residency organised through the Freelands Foundation where I painted in Patrick Heron’s former studio for a month by the sea. I created a site-specific project which involved producing a 10 m long painting to fit into my Manual Scroll and making a short film of the process. It all felt like a dream, and a rewarding one. Not long after that, this body of work was showcased at Palmer Gallery for my first solo exhibition in London, entitled "Matthew's Boat".

What’s the best advice you have ever received?

Do the things which feel exciting, even if they seem weird (they’re often the best ones).

Who are you outside of the ‘office’?

I don’t think there is much distinction between how I am in and out of the studio. I like my routines: listening to French radio, FIP or France Culture, maybe with a little dance; having a cup of tea after lunch; and going for a walk. I spend most of my time off with my friends or family or swimming.

What do you love about London?

I love how you can always come across parts of town which you have never seen before and wonder how you could have missed out on it.

Charlotte Winifred Guérard’s work is presented alongside the other international winners in P.O.V – Defining Your Point of View, a group exhibition at Paul Smith Space, a permanent gallery housed beneath Paul Smith’s flagship London shop in the heart of Mayfair. Through diverse mediums and personal narratives, P.O.V invites audiences to engage with the powerful, individual points of view that exist around the world. The exhibition will run from 13 November 2025 to 12 January 2026.

For more information visit paulsmithsfoundation.org