Léon Detroy (1859–1955), *cherries And Wildflowers*, 1920. Crozant School, Creuse, Guillaumin

A new work by Léon Detroy—this time a very lovely painting depicting a still life with cherries and wildflowers, circa 1915–1925, signed in the lower right corner.
The canvas alone measures 33x41cm without the frame and 47x55cm with the frame.
The original canvas is in good condition; it has been recently inspected and cleaned by my restorer. There are no issues to report—or virtually none—except for some very minor touch-ups at the very edge of the lower right corner.
Delivered in a lovely modern gilded frame.
The work is, of course, guaranteed authentic.

This is a new Post-Impressionist composition by Léon Detroy, depicting one of his favorite subjects—a rustic still life—from around 1920, in which he arranges on his famous red tray an armful of cherries and a handful of wildflowers, including cornflowers, millet, etc. His brushwork is, of course, very characteristic—powerful with broad strokes—and his palette is once again instantly recognizable to fans of the artist thanks to his famous monochromatic shades of green, along with his reds, browns, oranges, pinks, yellows, blues, etc....
A superb still life by the iconic painter of the Crozant School (feel free to check out my other paintings by this artist currently for sale....and soon a magnificent view of Collioure.....)
Finally, I encourage you to check out a magnificent exhibition currently taking place at the Draguignan Museum, accompanied by a superb catalog—and of course, Léon Detroy is prominently featured there alongside the Guillaumins, Ballot, Pailler, Valtat, Marquet, Seyssaud, Cross, Camoin, etc....

A great painter among the greats, I’ll only briefly introduce Léon Detroy, a leading figure alongside Guillaumin in the now-famous Crozant School Crozant.
Along with Guillaumin, these two painters shared honors, students, and friends, as well as the sites of the Creuse Valley, with Detroy being more attached to Gargilesse and its surroundings, while Guillaumin was more drawn to Crozant and its surroundings.
So, having first settled in Crozant, then in Fresselines and Gargilesse, he would become a key figure in the Creuse Valley. He had studied in Paris alongside Lebourg; like Lebourg, he would leave school fairly quickly, finding it too academic for his tastes. He discovered the Creuse around 1888, after reading George Sand, and there he met Maurice Rollinat and Monet, and became friends with Alluaud, with whom he shared trips to Italy and Agay, where he met other great painters of the time, such as Valtat, Van den Eckout, Anquetin, and others...who would remain loyal to him throughout their lives. He earned the recognition of numerous artists and critics of the time
His techniques evolved over the course of his life; he adopted a fine brushstroke, then became almost Fauvist with a broader stroke, and later combined small brushstrokes with large areas of flat color until he stylized his motifs, whether in the Creuse, on the French Riviera, in Collioure, in Italy, in the Maghreb, in the Netherlands, Belgium, Brittany, etc... He was, therefore, a great traveler, but it was the shores of the Mediterranean that most captivated the artist.Toward the end of his career, having settled in Gargillesse, he would paint almost nothing but still lifes, yet they played a very significant role in his career; some, in fact, are true masterpieces, just 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 work, for his painting remains TRUE and SINCERE!
Finally recognized as one of the greatest painters of the Creuse Valley—if not the greatest—his reputation continues to grow, even more so since the exhibition and the book mentioned earlier.