Louis Favre (painter)

Louis Favre (15 September 1892 – 17 April 1956) was a French painter, print maker, writer, and inventor who spent most of his life in France and the Netherlands.

He is known internationally for his labor-intensive technique. His works have achieved great popularity, particularly in the Netherlands.[1]

Biography

Louis Favre was born in Annemasse (Haute Savoie) in Maison Grillet on the Place d'Eglise. He moved to Paris in 1912. He started as an industrial designer, but soon devoted himself entirely to painting. He did not have formal training and was completely self-taught.

As a soldier during World War I, he often stood in the trenches, which gave him chronic bronchitis.

Back in Paris in 1919, he met Gertrude Stein. She was impressed by his work and bought several of his paintings. His connection with her provided him with more popularity in the United States. Favre later met the sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, whose friendship would significantly impact his development as an artist.

In 1924 he worked with an American friend in Vence, near Nice. On 5 May, he married Louise Henriette Turpin in Puteaux. The following year he worked in Cahors at the invitation of the French Minister De Monzie.

In 1926, after years of experimentation, Favre discovered the techniques of the ancient Egyptians of working with wax paint.

With the support of the French government, Favre made his first trip to Morocco in 1927. He held his first major exhibition in Gallery 'Au Sacre de printemps' in Paris, where he was noticed by the French art critic Waldemar George. He also joined prominent literacy circles, where his talent was recognized by Paul Dermée and Céline Arnaud.

Favre made his second trip to Africa in 1929, where he worked in Algiers. In 1930 Favre made different inventions in the field of radio engineering.

Throughout his life he wrote novellas, Chinese fairy tales, and radio-plays. He also wrote a novel for which he got the Prix de Lugdunum. Furthermore, he painted around Annecy and Geneva. He built a house in Saxel with his Dutch friend and painter Louis Bos.

After the beginning of the Second World War he fled to Lyon and began studying color lithography, with which he wanted to reach a larger audience. He had an exhibition in Lyon in 1947.

In 1946, Favre decided to give up painting and devoted himself entirely to lithography. Sometimes he used 13 blocks for a lithograph. His first lithograph—Les Joueurs—appeared in eight colors on the—Exposition Gravures Francaises Contemporaines—in Berlin. He also had an exhibition in Vienna that year. Both exhibitions were a success and the lithograph was almost instantly sold out. His wife died in Saxel in June.

Favre worked in The Hague, the Netherlands, in 1947 for the publisher Stols and he illustrated 'Une saison en enfer' by Rimbaud.

In 1948 he had an exposition in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Mouton & Co (The Haque) offered him a contract to make a certain number of lithographs per year (limited edition) and to illustrate the entire series stories by Poe.

He married on 13 July 1949 in The Hague with Anna Cornelia Bosma. He had a studio in Paris, Rue de La Tour- d'Auvergne 44, where he worked the half of the year. The rest of the year he lived on the Van Hogendorpstraat 103 in The Hague. He stayed in London that year.

In 1951 his colour lithography was shown at an exhibition in Gallery Redfern in New York. In 1954 he represented France at het Venice Biennale and took part in the Third International Biennal of Contemporary Color Lithography in Cincinnati, where he also took part in 1956. He also had an exhibition in Milan.

In 1955 Favre became seriously ill and he went to his friend Lucien Archimard in Geneva. Later he moved to Saxel. After his illness worsened, he went to Rouret, near Nice, where he still made the scale models for the Church windows of Thursy. After his death, the designs were realised.

Favre went back to Annemasse, where he died on 17 April 1956.

Works in public collection

Exhibitions

Salons

Lithographs

The lithographs of Favre are well documented in the book 'Contemporary Art, Masters of the Print, published by publishing house Mouton &Co (Foreword by Peter Floud, curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London). The Groninger Museum possesses all his lithographs and a number of paintings. His paintings are unfortunately not so well documented.

Favre has made a total of 44 large lithographs. The edition of his lithographs was limited. Usually 45 to 55 copies of about 25,6 x 19.7 inches.

(1946) Les Joueurs; Femme en Vert; Grenades; Masque (1947)La Pianiste; Christ I; Duo; Spleen (1949) Arlequin; La Fenetre; L'Oiseau (1950) Nu; La Table; La Printemps Hollandais; Grand Spleen (1951) Baladins; Tete de Femme; Clown Bleu; Christ II; La Pendule (1952) La Vetrail; Bal Musette; Été; Été (variante air bleu); Femme Assise; Africaine (1953) Recontre; Trinite Atomique; Danse; Sirene I; Sirene II; Cirque I; Cirque II; Cirque III (1954) Christ en Croix; Piéta; Les deux Arlequins + Variant A; Creation d'Arlequin; Joie; Procession; Le nuit de Noël; Meditation; Saint Francois d'Assise.

Favre also has illustrated a number of books and a calendar. (1948) Une Saison en enfer, Arthur Rimbaud (1949) Calendrier 'Mouton & Co" (1949) La Corbeau, Edgar Poe (1950) La Nove de lépave.

Artistic Legacy

In 1993 the widow of Louis Favre donated more than 90 lithographs, drawings, gouaches, wax-paintings and illustrated books by her husband to the Groninger Museum (Groningen, the Netherlands). The 93-year-old widow had kept herself the works of art of her husband after his death. It was the wish of Louis Favre that his collection would be donated to a museum.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.groningermuseum.nl/en/exhibition/louis-favre
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