Félix Raoul Etève (1902-1967) Beaulieu Sur Dordogne Corrèze Montmorillon

Félix Raoul ETÈVE
(Montmorillon 1902 – Auxerre 1967)
Beaulieu sur Dordogne
Huile sur toile
H. 46 cm ; L. 55 cm
Signée en bas à gauche

Félix Raoul Estève was born in Montmorillon in a well-to-do home. Her father, aged 42, is a publicist, and her mother, 17 years younger, is a dental surgeon. Judging by the witnesses to his birth certificate, the family and friendly entourage was also part of the Montmorillonnaise petty bourgeoisie.

The various catalogs of the Salons where he exhibited during his career do not mention a master. Would he have reached this level without directed learning in a large school? Did he only pass through the benches of a small provincial drawing school ? Anyway, Etève won the prize of the Société des Paysagistes Français in 1935, a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1937 and the Grand Prix Corot in 1938. An important result for this lover of landscapes sculpted by man, his architectures.

Our canvas presents the beautiful medieval city of Beaulieu sur Dordogne, in Corrèze, whose small church of Notre Dame (or of the Penitents) is located on the banks of the river. In the foreground, this very beautiful manor house with corner turrets and wooden balcony, exhibits its facade and its poetry to barges descending the Dordogne river to Bordeaux.