François-maurice Roganeau, Elégante à La Rose Et Au Châle, Portrait Of Mme Roganeau, 1930

Musician, painter, sculptor, illustrator, François Maurice Roganeau was a multi-talented artist. But it was as the as the last representative of classicism that he will be remembered for his work decorating the ceiling of the Salle du Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux.

Trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux under the aegis of Paul Quinsac, then at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris in the studios of Jean-Léon Gérôme and Gabriel Ferrier, in 1906, he won the first grand prize in painting and second prize in sculpture. At the time of the triumph of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, he stayed away from the avant-garde and cultivated his classical side. He distinguished himself at the 1912 Salon, where he won a medal for his painting Le Soir, à la rivière inspired by a poem by André Chénier.Chénier.

Parallel to this, he practiced illustration, collaboratingmainly with the publisher Henri Laurens.
He is also involved in the creation of stained-glass windows for churcheschurches, notably in Castillon-la-Bataille.
From 1929 to 1958, he headed the Bordeaux School of Fine Arts, shaping the regional art scene.
n his later years, the painter devoted himself to the Basque Country where he painted landscapes and scenes of life with an undiminished sensitivity to light and color.

In his later years, the painter devoted himself to the Basque Country, where he painted landscapes and scenes of daily life with an undiminished sensitivity to light and color.

Our painting depicts a realistic yet idealistic portrait of the artist's wife, standing in profile, lost in a profound introspective gaze. Her short, flowing headdress is typical of the 1930s, the period in which this portrait was painted. Her regal bearing is accentuated by a refined pearl necklace, revealing a yellow top with a low neckline, covered by a silk shawl embroidered with roses. The rose, the flower of love, is also prominently displayed in her left hand, testifying to the delicacy and sensitivity that the painter imbued in his brushstrokes to celebrate his beloved.