Anne Français - Oil On Canvas Signed And Titled

Anne Français was born in 1909 in Châtenois (Vosges), which she left during her childhood with her parents to settle in Paris in the Montmartre district. She enrolled in 1925 at the Académie Julian, then took free classes at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. Eager to emancipate herself, in 1928 she left to live with a wealthy aristocrat who offered her his studio, evenings in cafés, theaters and concerts, and trips. Between 1928 and 1930, she made several trips to Morocco and her first son was born in 1931. The tragedies of the death of her child at the age of one month, then of her partner in the same year 1931, made her return to her parents, resume classes at the Grande Chaumière and continue training as an illustrator. Near Villefranche-sur-Saône, she made the very decisive acquaintance for her painting with André Utter, widower of Suzanne Valadon and father-in-law of Maurice Utrillo. His “Ionist” vision which will be born from this friendship with Utter is already very perceptible in his paintings of Cannes in 1947, of Deauville in 1948, of Finistère in 1949. She moved back to Paris where she found a large workshop which would encourage her Ionist research on very large formats at 4, passage du Grand-Cerf. She lives there with the poet Yves d'Anne. Supported by her friend Germaine Everling, companion of Francis Picabia, she then entered the world of Parisian exhibitions (galleries and salons) where she was praised by art critics.