Oneiric Origami presents
The Possibles, 1822–1912
May Gallery — Santa Monica, Los Angeles July 9 – 11, 2026
An unprecedented selection of twenty-two paintings by one of the most singular artists of the Belle Époque. Long considered lost, they are finally brought together under one roof for the first time since 1912.
La Péruse, 1822 — North Atlantic, 1912
Born in 1822 to a family of farmers in La Péruse, Charente, the man who would later take the pseudonym Érasme Ennare had a life-changing encounter with Camille Corot, becoming his student in 1841 when the master passed through his native village.
“He saw landscapes the way one reads an ancient manuscript: with the absolute certainty that something essential lay hidden within.”
In 1846, he married Lucie Ondubois, the owner of a Parisian art gallery. It was she who, nearly twenty years later, encouraged him to step out of the shadows and introduced his paintings to the world.
This first exhibition propelled him to the ranks of the most discussed painters of his time, somewhere between Corot-like realism and a visionary strangeness that his contemporaries struggled to define.
Yet, despite a long career, his fame would be short-lived.
In 1912, Érasme Ennare boarded the Titanic. He did not survive the sinking. His works, scattered, traded, and sometimes stolen, long seemed impossible to retrieve. It is the patient and discreet work of Oneiric Origami that has made this exceptional reunion possible, more than a century later.
Notes left in France by the visionary painter reveal that he had planned to organize an exhibition of his paintings entitled The Possibles. We have chosen to keep this title out of respect and tribute.
Ennare is probably the most singular painter of his generation, capable of capturing landscapes from other eras and diverse locations with astonishing precision.
The exhibition Érasme Ennare — The Possibles will be held from July 9 to 11, 2026, at the May Gallery, Santa Monica (Los Angeles area). The twenty-two paintings on display represent the entirety of the artist’s authenticated works to date.
Oneiric Origami does not communicate regarding the acquisition details of the artworks. Any inquiry will remain unanswered.