René Léon Marie Devilario (1874-1942) - The Pianist, Circa 1900

René Léon Marie Devillario (1874-1942)
The Pianist, Circa 1900
Oil on panel
14 x 20.5 cm
15.5 x 22.5 cm with its frame
Signed lower left

René Devillario is a French painter, lithographer, engraver and watercolourist born in Saint Didier-Les-Bains in 1974. He graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he notably received the teaching of Jean-Paul Laurens and Tony Robert-Fleury. But it was Jean-Jacques Henner who most marked Devilario's sensitivity as an artist. His vision of women, less symbolist and more amiable than that of his master, will always bear the imprint of Henner's fascination for femininity. As soon as he leaves school, Devillario begins to exhibit at the Salon, where his works are well received. He received his first award, an honorable mention, in 1901, and won a gold medal in 1925. His paintings were bought by the State and went to decorate the prefectures of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Pau), Hérault (Montpellier), as well as Bouches-du-Rhône (Marseille). After the 1914-1918 war, Devilario abandoned his references to symbolism to adopt a more modern style. His post-war portraits are fiery and totally in touch with the vitality of the period. Devillario died in Paris in 1942.