André Balouzet De Tigny (1896-1968) The Dovecote Of The Château De Marzac In Tursac Dordogne

André BALOUZET de TIGNY
(Lyon 1896 - 1968)
The dovecote of the castle of Marzac in Tursac
Oil on wood
H. 54 cm; L. 73 cm
Signed lower left, titled and dated on the back

Provenance: Private collection, Périgord

André Balouzet de Tigny is the last child of a sibling living in Lyon, from the Balouzet and Tillard families. The name used by André and one of his brothers refers precisely to the Tillard de Tigny from which they descend through their mother and whose aristocratic roots had been forgotten over time.

It was at the age of twenty that the first artistic traces of Balouzet de Tigny surfaced through his registration at the dawn of the Great War at the Académie Jullian. There he will be the pupil of Baschet and Royer, before crossing France and carrying out works in the wake of Maurice de Vlaminck. Hard works, often dark or with marked and thick lines, Balouzet de Tigny will present these strong pieces at the Salon around 1920/40 and at numerous exhibitions in Parisian circles.

History has chosen the painter's sister-in-law, Jane Régny, pseudonym of Suzanne Balouzet de Tigny, for the creation of “sportswear”, sportswear used at the time by tennis players, notably Suzanne Lenglen. She had a shop at 11 ru de la Boétie, fully decorated by Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann.

This view of the magnificent dovecote of the Château de Marzac was taken in 1948. The painter was certainly visiting Pierre de Fleurieu, who is of his generation on his Périgord property. We do not have other traces of the painter's passages in the department, but this work clearly mentions a local connection. It should be noted that a few years later, another sister-in-law of the painter of American origin, will buy the Château de la Filolie in Saint Amand de Coly, about ten kilometers from Marzac.