Eugène Alluaud (1866-1947) Pink Winter Atmosphere At Crozant C. 1925. Creuse Valley Cézanne

A new work by Eugène Alluaud, a canvas depicting the Creuse Valley in winter under a pinkish hue, circa 1925, signed lower left. The canvas measures 46 x 55 cm and 58.5 x 67.5 cm including the frame. This is a very interesting new work by Eugène Alluaud, created during his Cézanne-inspired period around 1925. Here, he paints the Creuse Valley from his home in La Roca, Crozant. The resemblance to Cézanne is striking, especially in his brushstrokes. As for his palette, he employs shades of pink and brown, but also orange, green, sky blue, etc. A very interesting work for lovers of the Creuse Valley and for those who appreciate Alluaud's Cézanne-influenced period. Eugène Alluaud needs no introduction; he is an emblematic painter and, above all, a leading figure of the Crozant school. Today, he is among the five most highly regarded painters of this school, alongside his friends: Guillaumin (his teacher), Detroy (his close friend), Madeline and Alfred Smith (family ties), and Pailler. Eugène Gilbert Alluaud was born on March 25, 1866, in Ribagnac (municipality of Saint-Martin-Terressus) into a family of porcelain makers and art lovers. His great-grandfather François Alluaud (1739-1799) was a royal engineer and geographer, and a porcelain manufacturer; his grandfather François Alluaud (1778-1866) developed the family business; his father Amédée (1826-1871) was a leading figure in Limousin cultural life during the Second Empire, a close friend of Corot; and his brother Charles Alluaud (1861-1949) became known as a renowned entomologist. His father Amédée, an enlightened art lover and collector, hosted Corot several times at his château in Ribagnac. A close friend of Adrien Dubouché, he supported the painters of Crozant. After his death, his friend and fellow painter Charles Donzel offered the young Eugène advice on painting. Alluaud studied literature at the Jesuit college of Vaugirard and then science at the Lycée Condorcet. He completed his military service as a conditional enlistee for one year in 1885-1886. It was during this time that he became friends with the painter Jules Adler. From 1886 to 1889, he studied at the Académie Julian, in the studios of Bouguereau and Robert-Fleury, and traveled throughout Europe (England, Belgium, and Italy) and North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia). His major artistic experience was in Crozant. After first discovering it in 1887, he returned for an extended stay in 1891. With his wife Marcelle, he had the house "La Roca" built there, where they spent every summer from 1905 onward. He gathered their artist friends around his table. Together they painted the landscapes of the Creuse Valley and enjoyed themselves in a joyful atmosphere. Two names stand out from this network of friendships: Maurice Rollinat (1846-1903), the poet from Fresselines, and Armand Guillaumin (1841-1927), co-founder of the Impressionist group, who introduced him to light and color. His painting was thus heavily influenced by Impressionism "before managing to break free from it in the 1920s, through a more constructive and synthetic style inspired by Cézanne." He exhibited regularly in galleries, in Limoges at Dalpayrat and in Paris at Durand-Ruel and Drouant. He regularly participated in the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d'Automne. At the 1900 Universal Exhibition, he decorated the "Palais de la Danse" (Dance Palace) and the Grandes Marques restaurant pavilion. President of the jury for the Painting Section at the Salon d'Automne in 1928, he himself received the Grand Prize at the French Exhibition in Cairo in 1929. He would later become a renowned war sketch artist, as well as a ceramicist. The canvas is in very good condition, with just a slight crack near the center, which I will have repaired; that's all. Delivered in a lovely antique Montparnasse frame. Guaranteed authentic artwork.