Pierre De Belay (1890-1947)

Pierre de Belay
Gouache on paper
signed lower right
dated 1935
dimensions: 36 x 44.5 cm

Pierre de Belay is a French painter born in 1890 and died in 1947. He exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, the Salon des Indépendants, the Salon des Tuileries. He also showed his work at personal exhibitions in Paris, Nantes, Chartres and Stockholm. After his death, retrospectives were dedicated to him in Paris, Quimper and Brest. He met many personalities of his time, many of whom he left portraits, James Joyce, Apollinaire, Colette ... His works can be divided into several periods. He began with chiaroscuro in the romantic tradition, then devoted himself to Breton landscapes of a more materialistic construction. Circus scenes and scenes of life in Paris in the 1930s followed, as represented in our gouache. From 1935 onwards, he devoted himself to judges and lawyers in an expressionist style. By his subjects and style, he can be compared to the painter Soutine. Around 1937, surely under the influence of engraving, he invented a new way of painting, "the trellis".