Edouard Georges Mac-avoy (1905–1991) View Of Rome,

Edouard Georges MAC-AVOY (1905–1991)
View of Rome, 1979
Oil on canvas
65 x 84 cm
(large gilded frame)

Provenance:
Chochon-Barre-Allardi (S.V.V.)
DROUOT-RICHELIEU, Paris, France 06/19/2007

Private collection

Édouard Georges Mac-Avoy sold his first painting to the French government when he was just 19 years old; it was exhibited at the Musée du Luxembourg. He then divided his work between landscapes, cityscapes, and portraits, before devoting himself almost entirely to the latter genre. At the 1936 Salon des Tuileries, he exhibited only portraits in a style so distinctive and so different from that of his time that he was compared to Philippe de Champaigne. In 1939, he married Anne Coquebert de Neuville, with whom he would have three children. When war broke out, he was drafted and joined the 5th Motorized Infantry Division; he was awarded the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945. His wartime experience would henceforth influence his style. Mac-Avoy painted portraits of numerous figures from the arts and letters, as well as political and religious figures, including André Gide, Pierre Larousse, Honegger, Marthe Bibesco, Mauriac, Picasso, de Gaulle, Béjart, Eugène Ionesco, Cocteau, Chagall, Helena Rubinstein, Salvador Dalí, John F. Kennedy, Somerset Maugham, Louise de Vilmorin, Pope John XXIII, and Johnny Hallyday. A friend of Henry de Montherlant, he illustrated several deluxe editions of this author’s works, including *La relève du Matin* in 1952, *La Ville dont le prince est un enfant* in 1961, and *Les Garçons* in 1973. In 1967, Mac-Avoy also illustrated J.F. Kennedy’s speeches (Le Club du livre) with some thirty original lithographs.
In addition to portraits, Édouard Mac-Avoy created landscapes, still lifes, and highly colorful floral compositions. Mac-Avoy served as president of the Salon d’Automne for over thirty years, until his death in 1991. His Paris studio was located at 102 Rue du Cherche-Midi, in the 6th arrondissement, where a plaque pays tribute to him.