Eugène Gen Paul (1895 - 1975) - Still Life With Fruit Bowl And Bouquet, 1927

A still life with fruit bowl and bouquet of flowers by Gen Paul, 1927. An expressionist, cheerful work in shimmering colors.
Oil on canvas
Signed upper right
Dated 1927 on the back on the stretcher
Dimensions: 81.5 x 65 cm
With frame: 104 x 88 cm

The spirited years of 1925-1930, Gen Paul's best years, an ordered mess

Between abstraction and figuration, in the 20s, Gen Paul painted above all what he loved. He was full of gaiety, and our painting is testimony to this. Gen Paul, eager for life and movement, snatches up a bowl of fruit and a colorful bouquet, which he then throws onto his canvas in a joyful, orderly mess.

Gen Paul one of the masters of French Expressionism,

Gen Paul depicts a still life with a bowl of fruit and a bouquet of flowers. He uses extraordinary technical virtuosity.
The vase and bowl are delicately marked with a few brushstrokes; the beauty of the art of suggestion, they take on shape and consistency.
White occupies an important place. Spots of bright color splash against it. The painter completes his fireworks display with a few black brushstrokes. An economy of means that denotes his artistic talent.

Biography

GEN PAUL was born at 96, rue Lepic, in a house that Van Gogh depicted in one of his paintings. His mother was an embroiderer and his father a café musician. Being born on rue Lepic was a good sign, and GEN PAUL hasn't changed neighborhoods since. His eyes, head and palette are full of memories. When he left the communal school on rue Lepic in the evening, he was already fascinated by this strange, elegant, wonderfully-dressed dwarf who had his studio nearby, on rue Tourlaque: Toulouse Lautrec. He knew the Bonnot gang, La Goulue and handcars.
A painter born in Montmartre and living in Montmartre is first and foremost a painter, and Gen Paul didn't spend his life painting the Sacré Coeur, the Moulin Rouge and rue Lepic.
He began painting at an early age. His apprenticeship was original: as an interior decorator's apprentice, he looked around him in rich apartments.
Passionate about painting and eager for knowledge, he observed the works collected by art lovers wherever his work took him. He also familiarized himself with human anatomy by getting to know surgeons and accompanying them into operating theatres. He completed his training during the few years he spent at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
In 1913, he volunteered for the front and was wounded. A year later, a second injury led to the amputation of his right leg.Returning to Paris in 1916, he began to paint.His first oil painting - The Moulin de la Galette seen from his window - dates from 1916. From then on, Eugène Paul began his career as a painter.He painted numerous views of Paris to satisfy demand.
He signed his first canvas "GEN-PAUL" in 1918. In 1920, he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, and remained loyal to this institution, as well as to the Salon des Indépendants. He travels to Spain and confronts the masterpieces of the masters: Goya, El Greco, Velasquez... On his return, he makes even greater use of black in his compositions.
His first solo exhibition took place at Galerie Bing in 1926. He illustrated several of Céline's books, notably Voyage au bout de la nuit and Mort au crédit in 1942.He also produced engravings, some of which were published in a collection entitled Vues de Montmartre.
At the end of the Second World War, he made frequent trips to the United States and New York. At the time, he held the rank of general. In 1952, the Drouant-David gallery in Paris held a retrospective of his work.
Apart from the annual events of the Paris art scene (the Salons), Gen Paul exhibited only exceptionally.
Unaffected by success and fame, he has never taken a painting to a dealer. The artist refused to depend on any gallery.
At the end of his life, he traveled frequently in France and Spain.

Bibliography

• Francis Carco, Gen Paul, Éditions de la Galerie Drouant-David, 1952.
• André Chamson, Collection Girardin, Éditions du Petit Palais, Paris, 1954.
• Raymond Nacenta, The School of Paris – The painters and the artistic climate of Paris since 1910, Osbourne Press, Londres, 1960.
• François Gibault, Céline, cavalier de l’apocalypse (1944-1961), Mercure de France, 1961.
• Jean-Paul Crespelle, Montmartre vivant, Hachette, 1964. Voir chapitre 8 (p. 224 à 247) : « Gen Paul, de la rue Lepic ».
• Les Muses – Encyclopédie des arts, Éditions Grange Balelière, 1972.
• Pierre Davaine (préface de Jean Miller), Gen Paul, Éditions I.G.E., 1974.
• Emmanuel David (entretiens avec Herve Le Boterf), Le métier de marchand de tableaux, Éditions France-Empire, 1978.
• Carlo a Marca (préface de Marc-Édouard Nabe, Gen Paul, Transédition, 1986.
• Gabrielle Aber-Gen Paul, Guy Vignoht (« La Force de l’instinct d’un géant de l’expressionnisme »),
•Jeanine Warnod, Gen Paul, 1895-1975, catalogue de l’exposition du Palais des Beaux-Arts, Menton, 1993.
• Chantal Le Bobinnec, Gen Paul à Montmartre, Éditions Chalmin et Perrin, 1995.
• André Roussard et Carlo a Marca, Catalogue de l’exposition Gen Paul, Couvent des Cordeliers, 1995.
• Gérald Schurr, Le Guidargus de la peinture, Les Éditions de l’Amateur, 1996.
• Carlo a Marca, Joann a Marca, Gabrielle Aber-Gen Paul , Gen Paul (1895-1975), éditions de l’Hôtel Splügenschloss, Zurich, 1998.
• André Roussard, Gen Paul. La biographie, Éditions André Roussard, 2006, 304 p. [présentation en ligne [archive]].
• Jacques Lambert (préface de Claude Duneton), Gen Paul : Un peintre maudit parmi les siens, La Table Ronde, 2007
• Chantal Le Boubinnec (présentation de Claude Duneton), Gen Paul à Montmartre, Les éditions de Paris – Max Chaleil, 2007
• Francesco Rapazzini, Le Moulin Rouge en folies – Quand le cabaret le plus célèbre du monde inspire les artistes, Le Cherche Midi, 2016.
• Marie-France Coquard, « Gen Paul et Jean-Pierre Serrier, deux potes de Montmartre », Revue Paris Montmartre .

Museums
• Les expositions collectives posthumes incluent :
• Galerie Roussard, Paris (1999)
• Galerie Roussard, Paris (2002)

. À Paris :
• Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
• Petit Palais, Paris
• Musée national d’art moderne
• Centre Pompidou
• Musée Bourdelle
• Centre national des arts plastiques

. En province :
• Musée Toulouse, Les Abattoirs.
• Granville Musée d’Art moderne Richard-Anacréon,
• Honfleur, Musée Eugène-Boudin Honfleur.
• Menton, Musée des Beaux-Arts
• Dunkerque, Lieu d’art et action contemporaine,

. A l’étranger
• Berne, Musée des Beaux-Arts .
• Genève, Petit Palais.