Toulon - Jean Berque (1896-1954)

An oil on canvas measuring 61X46 cm representing the port of Toulon signed lower right dated 1927 by Jean Berque (1896-1954)

Jean Berque, born in Reims on January 31, 1896, died in Paris, rue de Seine, April 27, 1954 . Painter and illustrator. Son of a Champagne wine owner, Jean Berque, student of Nabis, Félix Valloton, Maurice Denis and Paul Sérusier, was one of the first members of the Reims Union of Decorative Arts. He created the Stations of the Cross for the Saint-Nicaise church in Reims. Renowned for his nudes, he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne from 1924 to 1928 and at the Salon des Tuileries between 1927 and 1934. He is best known as a book illustrator and collaborated with François-Louis Schmied, Philippe Gonin and the Gonin brothers, of Lausanne. He notably illustrated works by André Gide, Pierre Louÿs, Colette, Montherlant, André Maurois, Paul Claudel, Anna de Noailles and Paul-Jean Toulet. He married Raymonde Thorel, from Épernay, in Paris in 1920, then, in 1943, Germaine Kohn. Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1953, he rests in La Celle-Saint-Cloud (Yvelines)