Maurice Le Scouezec Portrait 2.
Maurice Le Scouëzec, was born in
Mans on 1 October 1881 and died at
Douarnenez
Douarnenez (, ; meaning ''douar'' (land) ''an enez'' (the island) or land of the island), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, northwestern France.
It is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid River, an estua ...
on the 1 May 1940. He was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and writer.
Biography
His son Gwenc’hlan Le Scouëz has written a biography of his father.
Born in Le Mans, Maurice Le Scouëzec's father was a Breton and worked as an inspector for the "Chemins de fer de l'Ouest". Maurice Le Scouëzec frequented the artist's quarter in Paris of
Montparnasse
Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...
and then set off on various voyages around the world on
tall ships
A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigging, rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a r ...
. He finally returned to France and died in Douarnenez. In an eventful life he had been a sailor, soldier, globe-trotter/adventurer and a painter and worked with painters such as
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
and
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
.
Works executed during times spent in Africa
During his stays in the Sudan and
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
he completed many evocative and realistic paintings depicting life in African villages.
He exhibited his canvases at the ""Salon d’automne". He completed many paintings depicting
Brittany
Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
.
File:Maurice Le Scouëzec - Autoportrait.jpg, 1918 self-portrait in Algerian dress.
File:Maurice Le Scouezec, Port rouge à Madagascar.jpg, Maurice Le Scouëzec. Port rouge in Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
File:Le Scouezec Maurice Pirogue à Madagascar.JPG, Maurice Le Scouëzec. A canoe In Madagascar
File:068 Cactus candélabre à Tuléar Maurice Le Scouezec 1931.JPG, Maurice Le Scouëzec. A "cactus candélalabre" at Tuléar in Madagascar.
The frescoes at
Pont-d'Ouilly
Pont-d'Ouilly () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.
Geography
The commune is part of the area known as Suisse Normande.
The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and ...
In 1932, Le Scouëzec was commissioned to paint nine frescoes for the chapel Saint-Roch at Pont-d'Ouilly. These depicted scenes from the saint's life. Eight frescoes adorned the chapel's walls and depicted the saint's birth, his refusal of meat on a Friday, the saint distributing toys, the saint leaving for Rome on a pilgrimage, his reception at Aquapendente, the saint sick in a forest, the saint curing the victims of the plague and then in prison. A ninth fresco is located behind the altar and depicts ''Saint Roch et les Anges''. The frescoes on the chapel's lateral walls were restored by the Polish artist Marek Sobczyk between 1982-1984, and in 2003 Jean Bonavita worked on restoring the frescoes on the south wall.
Decoration of the "salle des fêtes" in the
Douarnenez
Douarnenez (, ; meaning ''douar'' (land) ''an enez'' (the island) or land of the island), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, northwestern France.
It is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid River, an estua ...
town hall
In 1938 he painted two frescoes for the "salle des fêtes", one entitled ''Le village de Pouldavid'' and the second ''La plage du Ris''.
["Le Scouëzec - Montparnasse", Henry Le Bal, Mathyeu Le Bal, David Raynal, Editions Palantines, (Quimper), May 2014] These were classified as "monument historique" in 1997.
File:072 Le village de Pouldavid Maurice Le Scouezec.JPG, Maurice Le Scouëzec : ''Le village de Pouldavid''.
File:071 La plage du Ris Maurice Le Scouezec.JPG, Maurice Le Scouëzec. ''La plage du Ris''
Works executed in Brittany
File:067 Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bonne Nouvelle (Douarnenez) Maurice Le Scouezec.JPG, Maurice Le Scouëzec. The chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle. Douarnenez. Painted July 1934
File:Maurice Le Scouëzec - Le Lavoir de Commana.jpg, Maurice Le Scouëzec : ''Le lavoir de Commana''. Women washing by Commana fountain
File:065 Bonnes soeurs et pensionnaires (Landivisau) Maurice Le Scouezec.JPG, Maurice Le Scouëzec : ''Bonnes sœurs et pensionnaires''. Sisters and pensioners in Landivisiau
Landivisiau (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. The journalist Luc Le Vaillant, winner of the 1998 Albert Londres Prize w ...
File:Maurice Le Scouezec Femmes du Cap Sizun en conversation.jpg, Maurice Le Scouëzec : ''Femmes du Cap Sizun
The Cap Sizun (; ) is a headland forming the western extremity of the Cornouaille, in the French département of Finistère in Brittany, corresponding to the former canton of Pont-Croix.
The best known sites in this region are the pointe du R ...
en conversation''. Study of women in conversation in Cap Sizun
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Scouezec, Maurice
1881 births
1940 deaths
19th-century French painters
French male painters
20th-century French painters
20th-century French male artists
19th-century French male artists