Pierre, Jean, Charles Deval
A sensual nude of a woman by Pierre Deval, the great figurative painter of the 20th century.
An intimate painting in refined colors.
Oil on canvas
Signed lower left
Dimensions: 54 x 81 cm
Price: 4,000 euros
Pierre Deval is a great figurative painter of the 20th century.
Pierre Deval, a discreet artist, spent the 20th century devoting his life to the pleasure of painting.
His paintings range from uncluttered landscapes to portraits of women and sensual nudes.
A true hymn to life, his canvases express happiness.
Women are one of his favorite subjects, and Pierre Deval celebrates them with infinite delicacy.
A nude young woman lounges on a colorfully patterned sofa.
The pink of her cheeks echoes the orange-red of the sofa.
The painting is bright and luminous, as if a ray of sunlight has illuminated the scene.
Biography
Born in Lyon into a family of Lyonnais silk manufacturers, but settled in La Valette du Var from 1925 until his death, he was considered a Lyonnais by some and a Provençal by others.
Self-taught and outside the Parisian commercial circuit, the destiny of Pierre Deval, nicknamed the Maitre d’Orvès, took shape very early on.
After studying in Paris, he spent a month at Fernand Cormon’s studio and took part in the Dada movement with Breton, Tzara and Aragon.
At just 24, he was spotted by Léonce Bénédite at the 1921 Salon, where the State acquired his Ariane.
This success opened the doors to the Villa Abd el Tif in Algiers, where he was admitted as a boarder for two years, and where he made friends with Albert Marque.
He was awarded the Abd-el-Tif prize in 1922 and exhibited at the 1924 Venice Biennale.
Thereafter, he lived in Paris, traveling extensively with Marquet, and frequenting some of the most illustrious “Fauves” and other great names of the time, such as Charles Camoin, Henri Charles Manguin and Henri Matisse.
In 1925, dazzled by the beauty of the region, he became the owner of the Domaine d’Orvès, an 18th-century manor house in La Valette du Var.
The site, whose grounds have now been designated a Jardin Remarquable, welcomes and inspires friends, painters, critics, art publishers and writers.
He settled permanently in the Midi, at Château d’Orvès, and became “a Provençal painter”.
Pierre Deval met Michel Estades in 1986, who became his friend, ultimate and only dealer and expert.
Deval exhibited at the Salon d’Automne from 1920, the Salon des Tuileries and the Salon des Indépendants, as well as at the Art Français Indépendant, the Salon d’Automne de Lyon and the Salon du Sud-Est (Lyon).
His painting transcends the trials and tribulations of two world wars, the economic crisis of the 1930s, the dominance of abstract art, and the risk of destruction of the d’Orves estate, by expressing happiness.
He was the subject of a major exhibition to mark his centenary, followed by two major retrospectives: one in 1998 at the Musée de Toulon and the other in 1999 at the Maison Ravier in Morestel.
His works are on show in numerous museums.
Bibliography
Museums
Source
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Deval_(peintre)
