Pierre Theron (1918 – 2001) - Painter From Bordeaux - "christmas Roses" (1967) Oil On Canvas, Signed Lower Right, 83 X 54 Cm

Pierre THERON (Nérac 1918 – Mérignac 2001) “Christmas Roses” (1967) Oil on canvas, signed lower right, titled and marked 11.67 on the reverse. H: 83 cm x W: 54 cm (excluding frame). In an RGB frame. Biography of the artist: Pierre Théron was born in 1918 in Nérac. In 1925, he moved with his family to Bordeaux, where his father had been appointed port commander, and there he discovered port life, which became essential to his work. In 1936, he entered the Bordeaux School of Fine Arts, where he studied under Roganeau and René Buthaud. In 1942, he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His teachers were two eminent Bordeaux painters: Jean Dupas and André Lhote. Under the latter, he learned the construction of a painting. He always retained a sense of solid composition, the art of giving an image structure. "I am a builder," he liked to repeat. After 1945, his style evolved: he moved from realistic landscapes to images belonging to a kind of "poetic reality." A new style emerged, harsher and uncompromising, somber despite its raw colors. This style firmly established him within the post-war School of Paris. In the 1950s, Pierre Théron was as much a Parisian as a Bordeaux native. He exhibited in various Salons, and the French state purchased his canvases. In 1957, he received the Grand Prix des Beaux-Arts from the City of Paris. A prodigious worker, he divided his time between easel paintings, which he sold to a clientele of art lovers, and commissions for large-scale decorative works. He also created numerous tapestry cartoons for Aubusson. Part of his work, under the "one percent for art in public buildings" program (established in 1951), was devoted to approaching government agencies and participating in calls for tenders, making him one of the main contributors to this initiative in France. His first major project was in Bordeaux. In 1950, the SAFT (Société des Arts et Techniques de la Ville de Bordeaux) commissioned him to create decorations evoking the works and games of Aquitaine. In two years, the artist completed nearly 200 meters of paintings, imbued with the modernist lessons of André Lhote, but also with the influence of the Italian primitives. The vigorous gouache sketches that Théron produced in the 1950s seem to reveal a fiery temperament. Yet, the man was in no way a product of the myth of the bohemian artist. A distinguished gentleman, always elegant, courteous, calm, and worldly, he was also incredibly methodical, numbering his canvases with precision. In the late 1960s, Théron achieved recognition with a commission to decorate the Maison du Paysan, an ambitious building that was the pride of Chaban-Delmas, then Prime Minister. He adorned the building with an exterior mosaic, paintings, and large tapestries. The following decades were less successful for him. He embodies a period—the 1950s—that fell out of favor. Neither classical in a city that cherished the 18th century, nor contemporary, he was scorned by the new connoisseurs who judged only his recent works and ignored the artist he had been earlier. A posthumous vindication came at the beginning of the 21st century, with several exhibitions, recognition from numerous collectors, and the Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, which exhibited his powerful gouaches with industrial subjects.