Marcel Gaillard “seaside In Brittany?” Oil On Cardboard 31x48

Marcel Gaillard (1886-1947)
Oil on cardboard 31x48 cm "Seaside in Brittany?" Around 1930
Signed lower right
Born in Abbeville, after studying at the Beaux Arts in Rouen; Marcel Gaillard arrived in Paris in 1906.
He exhibited in the main Parisian Salons and at the Bernheim and Zborowski Galleries.
Released from national service, in 1912, he became a member of the independents and exhibited in 1913 at the Salon d'Automne. Unfortunately, the following year, the First World War interrupted the exhibitions for the duration of the fighting. However, in 1918, he founded the “Young French Painting” group with Lhote, Dufy, Corneau and Waroquier and organized a first exhibition at the Manzi gallery. Auguste Renoir, being elected honorary president, accepted but, dying shortly after, would be replaced four years later by Pierre Bonnard. In 1920, at the Autumn Salon, Marcel Gaillard obtained the French Equatorial Africa Prize consisting of a travel grantNote 3. In 1921, he traveled to the Congo and Sudan and on his return in 1922 exhibited at the Weill gallery , then at the colonial exhibition in Marseille. He then stayed in Algeria in 1928 and in 1929 exhibited at the La Palette française gallery. The year 1931 was that of the colonial exhibition in Paris and for the occasion the Grands Magasins du Louvre created a tea room in the basement of the store, which it decorated with a huge diorama5. A few years later, in 1943, Marcel Gaillard resided in Liesville-sur-Douve hosted by the priest for whom he undertook the frescoes of the Saint-Martin church. A local urban legend claims that at this time he was spying for England and that his paintings served as a source of information to pass on details of German defenses to the resistance. He died in this last place of residence and is buried near the church whose decoration is unfinished.
Biblio: Benezit, Dictionary Edouard Joseph, Schurr,...
Golden wood frame