Henri Clément Serveau Said Clément-serveau (1886-1972), Portrait Of A Woman

Henri Clément Serveau (1886-1972)
Portrait of a woman
Oil on canvas
Signed “Clément-Serveau” lower right
55 x 38 cm

Born in Paris in 1886, Henri Clément Serveau (known as Clément-Serveau) very early showed a disposition for the drawing. He underwent initial training at the National School of Decorative Arts from 1904 before joining the National School of Fine Arts. As early as 1906, thanks to the support of his master Luc-Olivier Merson, Clément-Serveau developed numerous models of banknotes on behalf of the Banque de France but also for those of Lebanon, Syria and Romania. His achievements are among the most successful in the history of the franc. The qualities of draftsman and engraver of the artist will thereafter be appreciated by the administration for which he will produce several postage stamps from 1956 to 1970. The artist also collaborates with his father-in-law, the Vosges architect Charles Hindermeyer (1864-1940), to the realization of several monuments to the dead for which he created the cartoons which will be executed by renowned mosaicists.

Appointed artistic director of Editions Ferenczi in 1919, of which the writer Colette remained the literary director for several years, he produced numerous illustrations of works from the collection of the Modern Illustrated Book. To do this, he used the technique of engraved wood and received several awards for this between 1920 and 1929 at the Salon des artistes français. Alongside his activities as an illustrator, Clément-Serveau pursues a career as a painter and more particularly as a portraitist, which is sought after by all of Paris. He gradually freed himself from academicism and produced a freer work, both in composition and in colors. He exhibited in many salons and galleries alongside other big names of his time such as Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Georges Rouault and Kees van Dongen.

The bust portrait of a woman dressed in a shirt that we propose illustrates this more intimate practice. We find the face of this model in other paintings by the artist.