A philosopher by training, Gilles Aillaud was a painter, draftsman, engraver, poet, writer, and scenographer. He is what is known as, for reasons of convenience, a ‘painter for painters’, an artist admired by other artists, many of whom were sensitive to his meditative and silent form of painting and his rejection of all forms of discourse. His work attests to the joy of painting and reveals, beyond representation, the materiality of the painting, its surface, light, and vibration.