Jimmy Locca Gemälde «Chevaux et son Jockey» 1993

Infos Jimmy Locca:
At the age of 66, the painter Jimmy Locca passed away on January 8th, 2007.  His paintings have been sold all around the world but few people know his works despite his extraordinary course from Paris to New-York. Felt hat, eternal scarf and thick glasses, no one will forget his extravagant look.

Born in Neuchatel, Switzerland, in 1940, Jimmy Locca spent a happy childhood along with his father, the painter Albert Locca. His father was a friend of UNESCO classified architect ?Le Corbusier? and the Barraud brothers who were influential painters back in the 1920s. Jimmy Locca used to say that «he was already painting in the womb of his mother».

After studying at the School of Arts in Lausanne and the Arts School of La Chaux-de-Fonds he studied at the Boule Academy in Paris before returning to Switzerland to teach drawing. Successively bookseller in Neuchâtel, an antique dealer and director of galleries in Neuchâtel, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Geneva and Zurich, Jimmy Locca was above all an artist bubbling with ideas and creativity. «A man with a big heart, remember his friends, Daniel Domon and Pierre Magnin. An artist misunderstood, even by the artists themselves … «.

Mostly influenced by Cézanne, Braque and Picasso that he met during his life, Jimmy Locca obtained a scholarship for Paris where he met an American patron. «There is Picasso, Miro …. and maybe Locca? titled, back in 1989, a Parisian daily newspaper. True? False? The public will judge. Jimmy Locca’s career took off in a big way in the 80s when the starting price of one of his works at Drouot was fixed at 150,000 French Francs, the equivalent of about USD 25?000. At that time, Jimmy Locca presented to Mr. Brice Lalonde, Secretary of the French State of the Environment a painting dedicated to the preservation of the natural environment. According to an article published in the Jet Society No. 26 some of his works could be found in private collections of Ronald Reagan, Adnan Khashoggi and the Sultan Ghalib Bin Wadh Al-Quaiti.

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In New York Jimmy, Locca met with some success. «He was a great artist,» recalls his cousin Jeanine Marini. He could reach highs, but his fault was not being able to manage his affairs. Locca never made a fortune. On his return to Switzerland, he settled in his studio in Numa-Droz Street, where paintings mingled with antiquities in fabulous shambles. Always present for his family, «his pride were his sons, born of his union with Lucette, an Ivorian Princess. The twin brothers became a doctor and a dentist.

Jimmy Locca who had such a beautiful perception of colors unfortunately suffered late in his life from an eye illness called retinitis pigmentosa. «He could no longer see the colors, which did not prevent him from painting.» He asked us to show him the colors. «A thousand and one rumors ran over this singular man. «. When he passed over he was an immense hobbyist, always enthusiastic.» In the last years of his life, he had discovered, through meditation, the means of chasing his demons. «He’s gone in peace.»