Bernard Lorjou Figurative Paintings

French, 1908-1986

Bernard Lorjou was born on September 9, 1908, in Blois, France, a somber village of picturesque houses on the Loire River, 32 miles from Tours. He was the youngest of 3 children and a born painter, indulging in all the childish pranks to obtain crayons and suitable materials to satisfy his strong desire to draw and paint. In 1924, he headed to Paris, where he lived in extreme poverty in a small room on the Rue Raspail. Eventually, his funds ran out, so he started sleeping in the Orsay train station. Within a year, he found work with the silk house Ducharne. He used his income at Ducharne to finance his formal studies at the evening school in Paris. He was taught a kind of 19th-century realism, dark and painstaking. His canvases show brilliant brushwork, filled with an emotional intensity that was to typify countless canvases. At Ducharne, he designed patterns for prints that became sought by fashion houses ranging from Jacques Fath, Balmain, Lanvin and Christian Dior and worn by many notable women of the period, including Marlene Dietrich, Dolores del Rio, Jane Aubert and the Duchess of Windsor. At Ducharne, Lorjou met his wife Yvonne Mottet, also an artist. Mottet taught Lorjou conventional drawing and her influence on his work and life was profound. Her kind, gentle but direct force humanized and appeased his volcanic personality. In 1934, Lorjou and Mottet set up an art studio in Montmartre, Paris. This same studio was featured in the 1996 movie, Everyone Says I Love You. In 1939, Lorjou returned to Blois as German troops began invading France. During his short time as mayor, he recalled housing, treating, burying and feeding many of the town’s citizens. In 1942, he displayed works for the first time at the Salon des Indépendants. Three years later in 1945, Lorjou held his first solo exhibition in Paris at the Galerie du Bac. Less than a year later, the Galerie du Bac held an exhibition dedicated to the emerging style of Expressionist artists from different countries, featuring artists such as Soutine, Rouault, Goerg, Ensor, Beckmann and Lorjou. In 1948, Lorjou was named co-recipient of the coveted Prix de la Critique award with Bernard Buffet. That same year, Lorjou formed the artistic group L’Homme Témoin with the art critic Jean Bouret to defend figurative painting. The group originally comprised 5 members and shortly thereafter expanded to include other artists, including Bernard Buffet, Jean Couty, Minaux and Simone Dat. In 1950, Lorjou painted and exhibited a series of large-format paintings inspired by current events, namely, L'Age Atomique. Today it is owned by the French Government and held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Over the next 10 years, Lorjou painted a series of widely acclaimed works now held by major museums worldwide. In 1963, Lorjou rented a barge named La Touraine to navigate up and down the Seine River in Paris for three days. There were several politically-charged monumental paintings on display, including La Mort de John XXIII, Grimau’s Blood and July 14th. Local authorities eventually stopped the barge. In 1965, Lorjou created woodblocks from his illustrations Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée by Guillaume Apollinaire, which was published by Editions d’Auteuil and printed by Robert Blanchet in an edition of 230 copies. In 1968, his wife and companion of 40 years, Yvonne Mottet, passed away from leukemia. Throughout the 70s and 80s, Lorjou created iconic works and exhibited them throughout the globe. These included acclaimed exhibitions, such as “The Sharon Tate Assassination," “Bullfights” and “Lorjou in Private French Collections.” In 1985, The Palais de l'Europe organized a retrospective on Lorjou. The same year, Lorjou organized his last exhibit in Paris with a series of tarps around the theme of AIDS. On January 26, 1986, the last day of his AIDS exhibit, Lorjou died of an asthma attack. Posthumous exhibits were held in Venezuela and Japan.

Artist: Bernard Lorjou

Bernard LorjouHarlequin, 1955

$2,500

Harlequin

By Bernard Lorjou

Located in Boca Raton, FL

Bernard Lorjou (1908–1986) was a French painter, printmaker, and co-founder of the Expressionist movement L’Homme Témoin (“The Witness”). Known for his bold colors, dramatic composit...

Category

1950s Expressionist Bernard Lorjou Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

$1,500

H 21.66 in W 18.12 in

"Nude", Surrealist John Devoluy (1903-1982) Oil on canvas, French-American

Located in New York, NY

John Devoluy (1903-1982) Nude, 1950 c. Oil on canvas 21 1/3 x 18 1/8 inches l 55 x 46 cm With frame: 23 1/3 x 19 2/3 inches l 59 x 50 cm John Devoluy was born in 1903 and became a c...

Category

1950s Expressionist Bernard Lorjou Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Auke SonnegaSawah Landscape, 1954

$21,892

H 19.89 in W 23.82 in D 1.97 in

Sawah Landscape

Located in Amsterdam, NL

A sawah landscape, Sumatra Signed and dated 'Sonnega '54' (lower right), and annotated 'Voor Jan de Bas 1-1-1970 / R de Bas' (on the reverse) oil on canvas, 50,5x60,5 cm Provenance: - Collection Pieter de Bas (1909-1979) Mr de Bas was head of the MULO school and acting head of the HBS school in Medan. Thence by descent to the present owner. Exhibited: - Hotel de Boer, Medan 1954, where acquired by the first owner. The light I observed everywhere was of a special quality, fluorescent blue, shone from nowhere but radiated from every point, oddly with great depth and intensity. The light in an entirely different dimension came from nowhere and went nowhere shimmering with the glow of a bright blue jewel. The most important thing I discovered was of being omnipresent and able to understand everything at the same time, yes I could fathom creation completely. Auke Sonnega, born March 9, 1910 in Leeuwarden, known as the painter, primarily of young Balinese men and women. Originally raised in the reformed denomination, the parents of Auke apparently practised theosophy and their children, including Auke were taught these principles. The talent for drawing revealed itself at an early stage which in 1926 lead to a 4-year study of textile design at the Academy for Art and Craft in Amsterdam. He completed the academy in 1930 and worked in a carpet factory in Twente until 1934 and then followed in his sister Aafje’s footsteps leaving the Netherlands to go to the Dutch East Indies where in 1935 he started working as a graphic designer with an advertising bureau in Batavia. He was able to travel through Java and Bali on the motorbike that he brought with him from Europe, and was paid for his travelogue, enhanced with his own photo’s which appeared in several Dutch newspapers and magazines. In the 1930’s two Europeans, Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet...

Category

Mid-20th Century Expressionist Bernard Lorjou Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bruce AdamsFish and Bicycles # 12, 1988

$2,400

H 30 in W 22 in

Fish and Bicycles # 12

By Bruce Adams

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original oil on paper by contemporary artist Bruce Adams from his Fish and Bicycles series. This work is currently part of an exhibition at Benjaman Gallery "Over the Fence". This piece comes framed in an archival natural wood frame presentation. The Fish and Bicycle series employs a similar strategy as my Men at Work series. This time the subject matter includes both men and women (exhibited in pairs) representing a range of gender identities. The title is derived from Irina Dunn’s witty statement (often erroneously attributed to Gloria Steinem...

Category

1980s Expressionist Bernard Lorjou Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Paper

Janis RikmanisGirl. Portrait by Janis Rikmanis. Oil on plywood, 70 x 50 cm. Signed

$994

H 31.5 in W 22.45 in D 0.04 in

Girl. Portrait by Janis Rikmanis. Oil on plywood, 70 x 50 cm. Signed

By Janis Rikmanis

Located in Riga, LV

Janis Rikmanis (1901.5.IV – 1968.25.III) graduated Figurative painting studio of Latvia Art academy (1931). He took part in exhibitions since 1929. Self-exhibitions were made in Riga...

Category

1950s Expressionist Bernard Lorjou Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Previously Available Items

Bernard Lorjou"Harlequin" Expressionist Cubist Oil Portrait on Canvas Board & Rich Colors, 1950

Sold

H 12 in W 10 in

"Harlequin" Expressionist Cubist Oil Portrait on Canvas Board & Rich Colors

By Bernard Lorjou

Located in Detroit, MI

"Harlequin" is exploding with bright primary Expressionist colors of rich red, yellow, green and blue in a Mid-20th century Cubist style. Bernard Lorjou was a French painter of Expressionism and a founding member of the anti-abstract art Group "L'homme Témoin". He was born in Blois, in the Loire et Cher department of France to an impoverished family just before World War I. Lorjou was to receive the bulk of his education, as he put it, “in the streets.” At the age of 13, with his desire to learn to paint, he left for Paris and lived through years of hardship and often slept in metro and train stations while working without pay as an errand boy for a printing house. He eventually found a position as a silk designer where he met his future wife Yvonne Mottet, also an artist and painter. Lorjou finds success as a silk designer. Over the next 30 years, his designs not only adorn the bodies of many of the world's most prominent women but also provide him an income that allow him to paint on a full-time basis. Lorjou exhibits for the first time at the Salon des Indépendents in 1928. During travels through Spain in 1931, he is stricken by the expressive strong styles of the artists El Greco, Velasquez, and most of all Goya. Inspired by Goya, Lorjou begins painting socio-political events. In 1948, he shares the Critic’s Award with Bernard Buffet. In the same year, Lorjou forms the art group “l’Homme Temoin” with art critic Jean Bouret by declaring that "man is an eater of red meat, fried potatoes, fruit and cheese". The group bands together in an effort to defend figurative painting against the abstract movement and will eventually attract other painters such as Bernard Buffet, Jean Couty, André Minaux, Charazac, and Simone Dat. Though his style changes throughout his career, his constants are the power of his images and the rich precision of his use of vibrant color. He is supported by prominent art figures like Georges Wildenstein and Domenica Walter, the widow of Paul Guillaume. Lorjou becomes known for his extravagant exhibits and combative spirit. His works are exhibited widely throughout the world, namely in France, the United States, and in Japan. Lorjou’s body of work includes thousands of paintings, a collection wood engravings, ceramic and bronze sculptures, lithographs, illustrated books, socially oriented posters...

Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Bernard Lorjou Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas, Board

Bernard Lorjou figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Bernard Lorjou figurative paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Bernard Lorjou in oil paint, paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1950s and is mostly associated with the Expressionist style. Not every interior allows for large Bernard Lorjou figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 30 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Yves Brayer, Lucien Génin, and André Brasilier. Bernard Lorjou figurative paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,410 and tops out at $1,410, while the average work can sell for $1,410.