“boats On The Beach” Charles Levier (1920 - 2003)

LEVIER, Charles born in 1920, in Corsica, France; Decorative Arts, Paris; 1950, settled in the United States; lives in the United States; 1997, his studio was dispersed by Messrs. Conan and Auclaire, in Lyon; 1998, 1999, by Me. Ader, in Paris. Landscaper and figure painter in a style that corseles nature into flawless contours. Not that he geometrically shapes his subjects, but he defines them with such precision, as well as each of their details, that he gives them the rigor that Art Deco* brings to ornamental objects. His women are timeless, even though they have boyish or dog-eared hair, and play on the vagueness of their gaze; his buildings have a Cézanne-esque outline, even if the configurations are smooth and have nothing of the Cubist touch. Charles Levier's painting is very representative of the figurative movement of the Trente Glorieuses. A colorist full of vitality without being aggressive, Levier is inspired by cubist visual concepts while respecting readability and resemblance to the model. According to the program Tell the truth in which he participated in 1953, he also seems to paint under other identities (Jacou, Monfort, Roberval, etc.) works in a style different from the one that made him famous. His art, all delicacy and optimism, is never committed, and gives itself the mission of representing a world full of beauty and lightness. For these reasons he is much more famous in the USA than in France, where he suffered from the hostility of official criticism advocating abstraction, as well as his success with the American elite. The works of Charles Levier are present in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, the Seattle Museum, the Atlanta Museum, etc. Among his private collectors were Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin as well as Baron Edmond de Rothschild and Prince and Princess Ponoatoski. Oil on canvas signed lower right, titled and countersigned on the back. Size: 50 x 60 cm with frame: 66 x 77 cm