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.
Yellow Clown
By Bernard Lorjou
Located in New York, NY
Bernard Lorjou has painting this subject "Harlequins" many times in watercolors, drawing , oil paintings and later on in the late 60's in acrylic, both on canvas, paper and some on m...
Oil
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...
Paper, Oil
Maximilien Luce La Cueilleuse de Fruits
By Maximilien Luce
Located in Dallas, TX
Maximilien Luce (French, 1858-1941) La Cueilleuse de Fruits oil on newsprint laid down to board signed Luce (lower right) Sight: 13 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (34.3 x 16.5cm) Frame: 17.5 x 10 I...
Oil, Newsprint
$50,000
H 14.5 in W 19.625 in
Cabeza de Nina Negra, Signed Exhibited at the Museo Guayasamín
By Oswaldo Guayasamin
Located in Miami, FL
Oswaldo Guayasamín creates a soulful and insightful portrait of a young black girl. The artist is known for his sensitive depictions of the raw human condition, systemic injustice, a...
Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
Paris under the sun
Located in PARIS, FR
Oscar Rabine was a renowned Russian-French painter and one of the leading figures of nonconformist art in the Soviet Union. Born in 1928 in Moscow, he became known for his expressive...
Canvas, Oil
$9,111
H 15.16 in W 21.66 in
"Venice Twilight", 19th Century Oil on Canvas by Charles-Clément Calderon
Located in Madrid, ES
CHARLES - CLÉMENT CALDERON French, 1870 - 1906 VENICE TWILIGHT signed "C. Calderon" (lower right) oil on canvas 15-1/4 x 21-3/4 inches (38.5 x 55 cm.) ...
Canvas, Oil
$4,441
H 43.31 in W 44.49 in D 1.97 in
Is the sun burning your retina ?Julien Wolf, Contemporary Expressionist painting
By Julien Wolf
Located in Paris, FR
Oil on canvas 2018 Signed Unique work Julien Wolf is a French painter born in 1981 in Strasbourg, France. In 2007, he graduated from the DNSEP Art section at the Strasbourg Decora...
Canvas, Oil
Voila
By René Romero Schuler
Located in Westport, CT
René Romero Schuler’s expressionistic paintings depict delicate female figures that she paints using a dry-brushed, minimalist hand, leaving her subjects mostly featureless but nonet...
Canvas, Oil
Bouquet of Roses
By Jean-Pierre Cassigneul
Located in New York, NY
A very rare composition by the artist Jean-Pierre Cassigneul, the woman holds a beautiful Bouquet of Roses by the artist, she is wearing a chapeau in front of a painting showing th...
Oil
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...
Canvas, Oil
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...
Oil, Paper
Miranda
By René Romero Schuler
Located in Westport, CT
This beautiful blue painting is by René Romero Schuler. Her expressionistic paintings depict delicate female figures that she paints using a dry-brushed, minimalist hand, leaving her...
Canvas, Oil
$3,986
H 43.31 in W 35.04 in D 1.97 in
Coach André Bard - Julien Wolf, 21st Century, Contemporary figurative painting
By Julien Wolf
Located in Paris, FR
Oil on canvas Signed Unique work
Canvas, Oil
Le Cirque
By Camille Bombois
Located in New York, NY
Le Cirque is a rare and most sought after image by the artist of the circus by collectors of Bombois. This painting shows the circus ring where the performers would perform, the audience of spectators, the ring master & the clown holding a bomb behind his back. It is a painting of GREAT detail. Bombois was a self taught artist and a strongman with the circus. Painting is in a 23 K. hand carved frame, linen mat & 23 K. gold leaf bevel & hand painted 23K. name plate. The painting & frame are in pristine condition. Photo certificate of Perls Gallery...
Oil
$4,441
H 57.09 in W 43.31 in D 1.97 in
A small picodon ? Julien Wolf Contemporary Expressionist Painting
By Julien Wolf
Located in Paris, FR
Oil on canvas 2017 Signed Unique work Julien Wolf is a French painter born in 1981 in Strasbourg, France. In 2007, he graduated from the DNSEP Art section at the Strasbourg Decora...
Canvas, Oil
"Relations"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
This work explores the female body in motion through abstract deconstruction, capturing the tension between form, movement, and the fleeting nature of physical presence. Working with...
Paper, Oil
$750
H 30 in W 22 in D 0.075 in
Buried Mistake expressionist figurative nude active warm and cool colors
By Tom Bennett
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Expressive nude figure, movement, powerful color and texture, abstract brushwork
Paper, Oil Crayon, Oil
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...
Oil, Canvas, Board