Gustave Florot
1885-1965

Gustave Florot was born in Paris in 1885; he was a very successful painter who worked in a true Art Deco style.

His lyrical subjects were often jazz, nudes, dance, theater, and allegorical themes. Using cubist elements combined with rich colors, Florot celebrated the life of Paris. Many of his paintings incorporate surreal and bizarre images, which facilitate his story telling.

Florot transformed a small boutique on the Rue d’Orechamps in Montmartre into his atelier. He hosted many parties that lasted into the early morning hours. Many of his friends dressed in theatrical costumes; which found their way into his paintings.

Florot exhibited in 1913 at the Société des Artistes Français at the Grand Palais. He was a member of the Société de la Salon d'Automne, and exhibited every year beginning in 1921. He exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1925 and 1927. In 1930 he was invited to the Salon des Tuilleries. Florot had a one-man show in Paris at Galerie Carmine in 1926, the forward to the catalogue was written by Gustave Kahn.

In November 1970 the first part of his atelier was sold at auction in Paris. More of his works reached auction in 1989 and 1990. Often works by artists of Florot’s generation, forgotten for decades, surface this way. Many fine artists have been rediscovered in the last half of the 20th century when their works were auctioned off after being released by their families or rescued from some obscure storage.