Léon Detroy (1859-1955) Masts And Ropes Of Boats ~1905. School Of Crozant, Gargilesse, Agay.

New work by Léon Detroy, this time a charcoal and colored pencil drawing representing the ropes and masts of fishing boats in a Mediterranean port circa 1905/1912, signed with the studio stamp at the bottom right and on the back of the sheet. Single sheet size without frame 48x61cm This is a sublime colored pencil drawing by Léon Detroy who here paints the rigging of fishing boats in a port in the Mediterranean, we can see a few houses and buildings in the distance, perhaps Menton, Saint-Tropez ??? Painted between 1905 and 1912 approximately, we immediately recognize Detroy's pencil stroke from this period, with broad strokes, very voluptuous drawing, obviously in the spirit of Signac, Cross etc... A great painter among the greats, I will only briefly present Léon Detroy, leader with Guillaumin, of the now famous Crozant School. With Guillaumin, these 2 painters will share the honors, the students, the friends but also the sites of the Creuse valley, Detroy being more attached to Gargilesse and its surroundings, when Guillaumin was more for Crozant and its surroundings. So first settled in Crozant, then in Fresselines and Gargilesse, he will become an essential figure of the Creuse valley. He had studied in Paris alongside Lebourg, like the latter, he will leave the school benches quite quickly, too academic for him. He will meet Creuse around 1888, after reading George Sand, and there he will meet Maurice Rollinat, Monet and will become the friend of Alluaud with whom he will share in particular trips to Italy or to Agay where he will meet other great painters of the time, such as Valtat, Van den Eckout, Anquetin etc ... who will be faithful to him all their life. He had the recognition of many artists and critics of the time, Salmon, Wilette ... His techniques will evolve over the course of his life; he will adopt the touch, then become almost Fauve with a broader touch, then mix small touches and large flat areas like here, until stylizing his motifs, whether in Creuse, on the Côte d'Azur, in Collioure, in Italy, in the Maghreb, in Holland, Belgium, Brittany etc ... he was therefore a great traveler, but it will be the shores of the Mediterranean that will attract the artist the most. At the end of his career, settled in Gargillesse, he will do little more than still lifes, but they will have had a very important part in his career, some will be real masterpieces, as much as his landscapes; this one proves it to us once again. And even at the end of his life, the charm will continue to work as his painting remains TRUE and SINCERE! Finally recognized as one of the greatest painters of the Creuse valley, if not the greatest, his rating continues to grow, even more since the recent exhibition and the excellent work of Pascal Goes at the Les Ardents publishers: "Léon Detroy, a post-impressionist, from the lights of the south to the Creuse valley" This drawing is in very good condition for its 120 years, delivered framed in a pretty contemporary brown baguette and marie-Louise (photo with frame to come later) Work guaranteed authentic