"la Provence," 113 Cm, Signed: Pierre Lemoine, Ca. 1950–60, Southern France.

Signed: Pierre Lemoine 1920 / 2006; listed artist. Pierre LEMOINE was an artist born in Algeria in 1920 and who died in 2006.

A painter who was very active in the 1950s and 1960s in the South of France.

Oil on canvas, in very good condition.

Subject: Landscape of Provence, Southern France

Date: circa 1950–60

Dimensions: canvas 100 x 50 cm; with frame, approximately 113 x 63 cm

Frame: original period wooden frame, in good condition

Biography:

Pierre Lemoine 1920–2006, a well-known artist, born in Algeria in 1920 and died in 2006.

In addition to being a painter and watercolorist, Pierre Lemoine served as Inspector General of the Museums of France and as a heritage curator.

From 1980 until his retirement in 1986, he directed the National Museum of the Palace of Versailles with the rank of chief curator.

Described as a “character” by his childhood friend, the journalist Jean Daniel, the two were part of a group of students at the high school in Blida.

Pierre Lemoine initially considered a career in diplomacy, however. The outbreak of World War II put an end to this plan, and he enlisted in the Free French Forces in Algeria.² In early 1943, at the age of 22, he took part in the landing in Italy and fought at Monte Cassino, where he was wounded. He then joined de Lattre de Tassigny’s army.

At the end of the war, he definitively abandoned the idea of a career in diplomacy and turned to art history. He attended classes at the École du Louvre, from which he graduated. It was during an internship in 1948 that he first got a behind-the-scenes look at the Palace of Versailles.

In 1954, he was appointed for a four-year term as an assistant curator at the Château de la Malmaison, then became assistant curator at the Château de Fontainebleau in 1958. He moved permanently to Versailles in 1964, a palace he would never leave until his retirement.

Pierre Lemoine became chief curator at Versailles in 1974. It was during this period that this specialist in the 18th century was asked to organize numerous exhibitions, notably “Louis XV: A Moment of Perfection in French Art” at the Hôtel de la Monnaie in 1974–1975.

In 1980, he was appointed “General Curator of the National Museum of Versailles and the Trianons” by President Valéry Giscard

Sold with invoice.

Painting on view at our gallery in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (France) on weekends.

Free shipping within France.

Shipping to other countries available upon request.

A2224