Baigneuses sous la treille by Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer 1865 (Algiers) – 1953 (Le Vésinet)

Baigneuses sous la treille.

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer 1865 (Algiers) – 1953 (Le Vésinet).

Painted circa 1900.

Born on 30 September 1865 in Algiers, Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer was a Jewish French symbolist/art nouveau artist whose work included paintings, drawings, ceramics, furniture and interior design.

In 1879 he began studying drawing and sculpture in Paris.  In 1886 he moved to Golfe-Juan, near Cannes, where he worked first as an ornamental painter and, from 1887, as primary artistic director in Clément Massier’s ceramic factory.  Around 1892 he signed his first ceramic pieces, influenced by Islamic art.   This factory-gallery complex was a destination for the elite who summered in Monaco, Nice, and Cannes. 

In 1895 he returned to Paris to pursue a career in painting.  About this time he also visited Italy and was influenced by Renaissance art.  In 1896 he held a very successful exhibition of pastels and paintings at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris which earned him admiration in both artistic and literary circles.  His style of painting his subjects in a haze was much admired.  The figures in his compositions often seem lost in a Pre-Raphaelite haze of melancholy which is contrasted with bright impressionist use of colour.

Many of his pastels are in the collection of the Musée d’Orsay and there are examples of his oil paintings in the Musée du Petit Palais and other museums.

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This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance