Albert André ( 24 May 1869 – 11 July 1954) was a French

Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

figurative painter. He produced portraits of

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...

, his closest friend, and

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

Biography

Born in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, he initially trained there designing patterns for silk. In 1889 he moved to Paris to enroll at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

. There he met

Paul Ranson Paul-Élie Ranson (; 29 March 1861 – 20 February 1909) was a French painter and writer associated with Les Nabis. Biography He was born in Limoges. His mother died in childbirth, so he was raised and educated by his grandparents and his ...

Louis Valtat Louis Valtat (; 8 August 1869 – 2 January 1952) was a French painter and printmaker associated with the Fauvism, Fauves ("the wild beasts", so named for their wild use of color), who first exhibited together in 1905 at the Salon d'Automne. ' ...

, and Georges d'Espagnat. He also associated with the group known as

Les Nabis The Nabis (, ) were a group of young French artists active in Paris from 1888 until 1900, who played a large part in the transition from Impressionism and academic art to abstract art, symbolism and the other early movements of modernism. The me ...

which included Bonnard, Vuillard,

Denis Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, Bishop of Győr (13th century), Hungarian prelate * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), bar ...

Vallotton Vallotton is a Swiss surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benjamin Vallotton (1877–1962), Swiss writer and journalist * Félix Vallotton (1865–1925), Swiss painter and engraver * Frédéric Vallotton (born 1970), Swiss w ...

, Marquet and Signac. In 1894, he exhibited five paintings at the

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...

where he caught the eye of

Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that ...

. Despite their age difference, a solid friendship united them until Renoir's death in 1919, providing André with guidance in his career. Through Renoir's art dealer,

Paul Durand-Ruel Paul Durand-Ruel (; 31 October 1831 – 5 February 1922) was a French art dealer associated with the Impressionists and the Barbizon School. Being the first to support artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, he ...

, André was able to sell many of his paintings in the United States through the Durand-Ruel Galleries. Between 1895 and 1901, he exhibited at the

Salon des Cent ''Salon des Cent'' ("Salon of the One Hundred") was a commercial art exhibition in Paris, based at 31 Rue Bonaparte. The ''Salon'' sold color posters, prints and reproductions of artwork to the general public at reasonable prices. It was establi ...

, the

, the Exposition d'Art Nouveau, the Salon d'Automne, and, in 1904, at the Salon de la Libre Esthétique in Brussels. In 1912, Durand-Ruel enabled André to exhibit his work in New York City and in 1913, he was selected to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Libre Esthétique in Brussels, showcasing works on a theme of southern France. He would later showcase his works many times in New York City, as in 1930. 1913 Albert Andre Portrait de Renoir

Demobilized from World War I in 1917, he moved to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and then to the village of

Laudun Laudun-l'Ardoise (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitania region in Southern France. It is located on the departmental border with Vaucluse, which is also the regional border with Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The commune name w ...

in the

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019; He became curator of the art museum of

Bagnols-sur-Cèze Bagnols-sur-Cèze (, "Bagnols-on-Cèze"; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. History A small regiona ...

, where he remained until his death. In 1919, he produced a monograph, "Renoir", considered to be "one of the most accurate contemporary accounts of the artist's work", and in 1921, he organized a retrospective of Renoir's work at the Durand-Ruel Gallery. He was also very close to the art critic

George Besson George Besson (25 December 1882 – 19 June 1971) was a French art critic, and the founder and director of ''Cahiers d'Aujourd'hui''. His wife Adèle was the subject of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's ''Portrait of Adèle Besson'', and he was the subjec ...

, a friend since 1910. In 1971, Besson decided to offer his art collection to the nation, bequeathing to the museums of

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

and Bagnols-sur-Cèze, where the museum is now called Musée Albert-André. André died on 11 July 1954 at 85 years old, shortly before his works were due to be showcased at the Avignon Museum. After his death, in 1955, the Salon d’Automne organized a retrospective of his works. Today many of his paintings are to be found in major world museums such as the Modern Art Museum of New York, the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, museums in Philadelphia and Washington DC, Paris's

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

, the Galerie Rienzo, and the Musée Albert-André in France.

External links

Albert Andre Bio
- Findlay Galleries
Albert Andre on ArtNet

Albert Andre - The Museum of Modern Art

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Albert 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists 1869 births 1954 deaths Artists from Lyon French Post-impressionist painters 19th-century French male artists