Marcel Saint-jean (1914-1994) "church In A Hilly Landscape"

PAINTING LYONNAISE - Marcel Saint-jean (1914-1994) "church in a hilly landscape" - oil on canvas signed lower right - circa 1948 - format 54 x 65 cm - location to be determined - Marcel Saint-Jean is a born painter in Lyon in 1914 and died in the same city in 1994. His life dates coincide with the great years of modern art with which it is entirely legitimate to associate him. Nephew of Ziniar Émile Didier (1890-1965), the influence of this avant-garde uncle is felt in a first period with muted tones and outlines outlined in black. Loyal to the Salon du Sud-Est, in which he exhibited almost every year between 1937 and 1981, he also showed his works in Paris, at the beginning of the 1950s, within the essential Salon des Indépendants, in the section dedicated to the expressionists . From the 1960s, his palette and his touch evolved. From lively and frank tones, his style becomes more nuanced and his brushstroke less smooth, more material, in small touches in a gesture which is reminiscent of that of the Sanzists and Jacques Truphémus. His subjects are varied with a predilection for landscapes, those of the surroundings of Saint-Germain-sur-l'Arbresle near Bully where he owned a magnificent property, between Monts du Lyonnais and Beaujolais, those of Saint-Mandrier and Var, privileged vacation spot, without forgetting Normandy and even Greece, destination of a significant trip in the mid-1970s. The tranquility of a happy end of life can be read in his serene paintings, bouquets, interiors, windows... Marcel Saint -Jean, a free painter, was never linked to an artists' movement, which did not prevent him from seeing his paintings frequently exhibited and from experiencing great public success.