Paul Lunaud (1900-1949) The Ironer Dordogne

Paul LUNAUD
(Brantôme 1900 – 1949)
The ironer
Oil on wood
H. 80 cm; W. 64 cm
Signed and dated on the right in the center, formerly signed lower right.
1942

Provenance : Artist's studio, then by descent.

Coming from a family of millers from Périgord, Paul Lunaud was born on the banks of the Dronne with the 20th century. Already fond of drawing in his younger years, around the age of 15 he devoted all his leisure time to learning the arts. At 17, he lost his father during the Great War, and joined his maternal uncle in the family flour mill, the Grenier mill. Alongside his hard days and the management of the company, the young Lunaud continued his career alongside the Brantôme painter Robert Dessales-Quentin, 15 years his senior. All mediums pass under his fingers, and practically all subjects that he knows how to take up as challenges with inspirations from the great masters of the 1900s. His style asserts itself little by little and really takes on its originality in the 1930s. He exhibits regularly at the Salon des Artistes Français and receives an Honorable Mention in 1939 for his two paintings “Nude” and “On the Beach”, proof of the variety of his work and his recognition by his peers. The landscapes of Brantôme and the scenes of local life are legion, as are the portraits and still lifes, which Lunaud creates with excellence in pastel. Many similarities can be found in the landscape compositions, with those of his master Dessales-Quentin. Lunaud died prematurely in 1949 leaving behind to his daughter Paulette many works that he created for her. There is no doubt that if he had been able to approach the second half of the 20th century and continue his production, his art would have become emblematic of Périgord, and his name would not have fallen into oblivion from local memories.

Accustomed to genre scenes, in particular of daily life in the countryside, Lunaud depicts here in pastel tones, gestures rarely visible in painting. Ironing, a scene that is not very glorious on paper but which is the responsibility of all houses. Is this large format a portrait of the painter's wife? We have the pastel sketch, also made in 1942.