Skippings Fine Arts has dated this piece to the 1930s.
The artist, French Rémy Hetreau (1903-2001) is a natural colourist.
This is unsurprising, as his work combines the spontaneity and naturalism found in European post-impressionism with the simplicity, sense of equilibrium and serenity often found in Asian art.
Rémy Hétreau was born in the Loiret region, and studied at the Ecole des
beaux Arts in Orléans, and later at the Ecole Boulle in Paris. A member of
the Salon d'Automne and the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, Hétreau was a
craftsman as well as an artist. He created theatre decors, illustrated
books, and taught applied arts.
When I started researching Rémy Hétreau, I discovered that I was not the only one who sensed the immense joy in his work. The most recent retrospective of his work in the Charles Peguy Museum in Orléans was titled : "Rémy Héreau - An enchanted world".
As art critic René Barjavel (1911-1985) wrote about about the artist:
"When a man is bombarded with ugliness, he grimaces, gets worn, gets
bitter, and ages. Hétreau has miraculous eyes, which simply do not let
ugliness in. The miracle of his eye, that's love. He loves everything he
looks at, be that landscapes, objects, women. He paints them with
discriminating friendship, tenderly, and sometimes gently teasing, which
shows them as they are, but beautiful. In the world around him, it is
always springtime. He has a blossoming tree in his heart".
Our painting is a rare work from the prewar years. An oil painted on thin board, the artwork measures 58 x 44 cm. The overall framed size in a more recent frame is 66 x 52 cm.
Skippings Fine Arts has dated this piece to the 1930s.
Modern french & continental pictures selected by a former french auction house expert
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Flowers, an Enchanted World, Floral Still Life by French Rémy Hétreau Ca. 1935 Oil on Board
