Pierre Laprade, *figures In A Park*, Oil On Wood Panel, Early 20th Century

A romantic scene inspired by the Commedia dell’arte, a recurring theme in the artist’s work, as he particularly appreciated the theatrical and melancholic world of the street performers.

Style: Post-Impressionism, characterized by fluid, rapid brushstrokes and a dreamy, poetic atmosphere

Length x Height: 87 cm x 82 cm with frame

”                     ”: 64 cm x 59 cm (viewable area)

Laprade Pierre French painter, watercolorist, designer of cartoons and tapestries, ceramic painter, theater set designer, engraver, draftsman, and illustrator.

Born in Narbonne in1875, died in Fontenay-aux-Roses between 1931 and 1932, . A student of Marre in Montauban, then of Bourdelle in Paris, he made his debut at the Salon in 1901 and traveled to Holland and Italy.

Coming from a cultured, middle-class background and destined for a career in the judiciary, he nevertheless lived solely for his art. An intimist painter influenced by the Impressionists, even though his favorite subjects were interiors and landscapes. Nevertheless, he remained an independent painter, convinced that “art cannot be learned from books or from lessons as academic as they are fossilized.”

Venerated by his peers and adored by his contemporaries in the wake of Bonnard and Vuillard, Pierre Laprade managed to steer clear of all the pitfalls of the burgeoning art market, unlike many painters of the time who succumbed to the allure of fleeting fame.