Léon Detroy (1859-1955) Still Life With Pears. School Of Crozant, Cézanne, Guillaumin, Creuse.

New oil on canvas by Léon Detroy representing a still life with a fruit bowl and pears circa 1930, signed lower right. Size of the painting alone 33x55cm and 47x68cm including frame. This is therefore a new composition by Léon Detroy who paints here one of his recurring subjects, a superb still life with pears and a fruit bowl circa 1930/1935. He then uses his typical touch of this period, with large flat tints and of course a palette recognizable among all, made of a range of greens, yellows, pinks, oranges, blues etc... Powerful work in the tradition of Cézanne, Detroy will produce several still lifes in this vein, we can notably see some in the book by Pascal Goes "Léon Detroy, a post-impressionist, from the lights of the south to the valley of the Creuse" at Ardents Editeurs, such as for example the one reproduced on page 208 (see last photo). A great painter among the greats, I only briefly present Léon Detroy, leader with Guillaumin, of the now famous Crozant School. With Guillaumin, these two painters will share the honors, students, friends but also the sites of the Creuse valley, Detroy being more attached to Gargilesse and its surroundings, while Guillaumin was more attached to Crozant and its surroundings. So first settled in Crozant, then in Fresselines and Gargilesse, he will become a key figure in the Creuse valley. He had studied in Paris alongside Lebourg, like the latter, he will leave school quite quickly, too academic for him. He will encounter the Creuse around 1888, after reading George Sand, and there he will meet Maurice Rollinat, Monet and will become the friend of Alluaud with whom he will share trips to Italy or Agay where he will meet other great painters of the time, such as Valtat, Van den Eckout, Anquetin etc ... who will be faithful to him all their lives. He had the recognition of many artists and critics of the time, Salmon, Wilette... His techniques will evolve over the course of his life; he will adopt the divisionist touch, then become almost Fauve with a broader touch, then mix small touches and large flat areas like here, until stylizing his motifs, whether in the Creuse, on the French Riviera, in Collioure, in Italy, in the Maghreb, in Holland, Belgium, Brittany etc... he was therefore a great traveler, but it will be the shores of the Mediterranean that will attract the artist the most. At the end of his career, settled in Gargillesse, he will do little more than still lifes, but they will have had a very important part in his career, some will be true masterpieces, as much as his landscapes; this one proves it to us once again. And even at the end of his life, the charm will continue to operate as his painting remains TRUE and SINCERE! Finally recognized as one of the greatest painters of the Creuse valley, if not the greatest, his popularity continues to grow, even more so since the recent exhibition and the excellent work by Pascal Goes published by Les Ardents éditeurs: "Léon Detroy, a post-impressionist, from the lights of the south to the Creuse valley" Canvas in very good condition, delivered in a modern gilded frame. Work guaranteed authentic