André Tondu Study

Study on paper of a composition with 5 figures: 3 young women sitting on a bench and two young men standing in a public garden. Pencil lines appear under the oil paint. A large final painting measuring 81x100 cm exists. This work is contemporary with two commissions for large murals that the painter obtained to decorate two high schools, one in Vesoul and the other in Pontarlier. André Tondu, born in the Jura in Marpain, was educated by Fernand Cormontreuil, Émile Renard and Jean Pierre Laurens at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The Grand Prix de Rome won in 1931 allowed him to stay in Rome for 4 years at the Villa Medici. He then became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and director of the École des Beaux-Arts in Dijon. He died in 1980 and the Binoche et Godeau studio dispersed his studio in 1992.