Boat At Lavandou - Lina Bill

Boats at Lavandou (Var)Oil on canvasSignature Lina BILL(1885-1936)Son of a wealthy shipowner, and little or not attracted by the sea, Louis Bonnot decided to devote his life to painting. Choosing to represent water, the sea, Provence and the Mediterranean, he took the pseudonym of Lina Bill and became a watercolorist, although also practicing oil painting.Married and having a child, he left his family, his native village and settled in Toulon as a painter and photographer during the 1880s. In 1886, he left Toulon and settled in Avignon.Lina Bill presented herself as a student of Vincent Courdouan and Paul Saïn, with whom he worked in 1887.1888 was the year of his first participation in the Salon of French Artists where he presented The Rhône in Avignon. He then lived in Avignon, and more precisely in the Monclar district. In 1891, he received an honorable mention at the Salon des artistes français with the Village de Gruissan[2]. In 1894, he left Avignon to go to Marseille where he settled at number 364 rue Paradis. 1895 saw his definitive return to Avignon. He is buried in the Saint-Véran cemetery (square 26) in the same commune.