Léon Detroy (1859-1955)

Beautiful oil/panel by Léon Detroy representing a still life with apples circa 1935/40 signed lower right + stamp of the Corot gallery in Limoges on the back (work reproduced in the catalog of the 1992 exhibition) Format without frame 38x46cm. It is indeed a superb fawn still life by Léon Detroy which represents here one of his favorite subjects, apples, he will execute many of them, especially in the 1930s/1940s. Here he makes a mixture of apples of several colors, red/orange, red, green, yellow, all except two in an earthenware salad bowl which is also found in several of his compositions. Minimalist and Fauve composition, powerful, daring and very decorative, in short typical of Detroy's art. A great painter among the greats, I 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 so for Crozant and its surroundings. So first installed in Crozant, then in Fresselines and Gargilesse, he will become a key figure in the Creuse valley. He had studied in Paris alongside Lebourg, like the latter, he left school fairly quickly, too academic for him. He will meet the Creuse around 1888, after having read Geoge Sand, and there he will meet Maurice Rollinat, Monet and will become Alluaud's friend with whom he will notably share trips to Italy or Agay where he will meet other great painters of 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 His techniques will evolve throughout his life; he will adopt the Divisionist touch as here, then will become almost Fauve with a wider touch, then will mix small touches and large flat areas until stylizing his motifs, whether in the Creuse, on the Côte d'Azur, in Collioure, in Italy, the Maghreb, Holland, Belgium, Brittany etc... he was therefore a great traveler, but it was the shores of the Mediterranean that attracted the artist the most. At the end of his career, settled in Gargillesse, he will only do still lifes, but they will have had a very important part in his career, some will moreover be real masterpieces, as much as his landscapes; this one proves it to us once again. And even at the end of its life, the charm will continue to operate as long as its painting remains TRUE and SINCERE! Finally recognized as being one of the greatest painter of the Creuse valley, if not the greatest, his coast continues to grow, even more since the exhibition and the work mentioned above. Oil/panel in perfect condition, the signature first in ink then in oil is typical of this period and works on panel. Comes in a nice modern frame. Authentic guarantee