Léon Clavel Known As Iwill-1850-1923

Léon Clavel known as Iwill-1850-1923Le bas MeudonOil on canvas signed lower left titled on the back32.5 X 56 CMMarie-Joseph Léon Clavel is a French landscape painter born in Paris in 1850 and died in the same city in 1923. He is better known under the name of "IWILL" (in English: I want), a nickname he took from the beginning of his career. In the early days of the war of 1870, Iwill enlisted in the imperial army and was made sergeant. In the aftermath of the disasters of the eastern army, he was imprisoned in Switzerland. It was in this country that, struck by the grandeur and beauty of nature, the idea of a career in business abandoned him completely. His father having a position in the secretariat of the National Assembly, he in turn worked there as a parliamentary stenographer. But Iwill only thought of devoting himself to the contemplation and representation of natural landscapes from then on. From 1875, Iwill exhibited at the Salon of the Society of French Artists and a little later at the Salon of the Society of Fine Arts, of which he was one of the founders. He participated in numerous orientalist, watercolorist and pastelist exhibitions both in France and abroad. He was awarded several prizes at the various Universal Exhibitions. A member of the French Artists in 1883, he received an honorable mention in 1884, a silver medal in 1889 (Universal Exhibition). He was named Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1894 and received the bronze medal of the (Universal Exhibition) in 1900. Iwill was a great traveler, setting up his easel near Paris as well as in Brittany, Normandy, Holland, Italy (notably Rome and Venice) and New Zealand. The landscapes depicted by Iwill are bathed in great softness and serenity, although the skies above them most often express the instability of atmospheric phenomena.