André Prugent (1882-1965) The Hollow Path Périgueux Dordogne Périgord

André PRUGENT
(Périgueux 1882 - 1965)
The hollow path
Oil on panel, H. 46 cm; L. 54 cm
Signed lower right

Provenance: Private collection, Périgueux

During his childhood in the capital of Périgord, André Prugent attended the drawing school of the city, directed at the end of the 19th century by Jean-Louis Daniel . Quickly becoming his favorite pupil, this leader of the Périgueux school will not fail to direct him following rapid progress, at the Salon des Artistes Français where he will exhibit for the first time at 18 years old.

After the mobilization of 14-18, Prugent returns to his lands where he is regularly accompanied during outings to paint on the motif, by Emile Chaumont, André Saigne, Gustave Chérifel, etc. This young generation usually met in the afternoon, when Prugent left the reins of the family store to his wife. This store was none other than the place of supply for painters in the region since there were the colors, canvases and other supports necessary for the arts.

The windows of this place located rue de la Clarté in Périgueux were also the place of permanent exhibition of the last achievements of the painter. Loved by the nearby regions of the Isle Valley, these are the names of Chancelade, Champcevinel, Bassillac which come up many times in the painter's compositions. The very simple supports that André Prugent used often marked the touch of this artist whom some compared to Cézanne during his lifetime.

Thick webs of canvas, soft cardboard, added to a large and sometimes very thick touch, gave a lively character to his works. In 1929, he was a member of the French Artists and will continue to exhibit at the Salon until the dawn of the Second World War. However, he continues to exhibit in different French cities and will see his local work crowned by a retrospective exhibition at the Palais des Fêtes in Périgueux, where oils, pastels, watercolors and engraved wood rubbed shoulders, in this year 1965, the day before his death.

We noticed several works signed and dated in English. This fact is today unexplained, and invites you to contact us, if information that can inform us is in your possession.

André Prugent has most certainly produced this view of undergrowth in Champcevinel, a commune bordering north of Périgueux, as two other very close-up paintings preserved at the MAAP (Périgueux museum) bear witness. Very bright, this hollow summer path is on the edge of the field, approaching a hamlet with a tiled roof in the background. He signs in his usual way, with the back of his brush, and against signs his work on the back of the panel.