Marcel Charbonnel (1901-1981) "the Gymnastics Society" Lyon Painting

Marcel Charbonnel (1901-1981) "la société de gymnastique" PAINTING FROM LYON - oil on canvas - size 61 x 50 cm - signed lower left - countersigned and titled on the back - very good condition - A street humanist, as described by expert Damien Voutay, Marcel Charbonnel has notably been exhibited in Paris by the famous Galerie Bernheim. His works, relatively rare on the market, are structured around lively sketches in homage to this street world that he knows down to the smallest details, having been born in the very popular and mocking 14th arrondissement of Paris. Lovers, second-hand dealers, workers, arpettes, day and night beauties are some of his favorite themes. At the turn of his fifties, he settled in Lyon where, protected by a patron, he became a regular on the walls of the Société Lyonnaise des Beaux-Arts, which dedicated an interesting retrospective to him in 1982. A philanthropic artist, he captures and expresses through his painting the moments of nostalgia when the world would never be the same again.