LOUIS CHARLOT
"PORTRAIT DE PIERRE LOTI"
OIL ON CANVAS, SIGNED
FRANCE, C.1910
23.5 X 31 INCHES
Louis Charlot 1978-1951 Louis Charlot grew up in Autun, where there lived a tapestry-maker named Alexandre Huet. Huet was also a fairly accomplished self-taught amateur painter, who was rather like a Parisian artist in the midst of the French provinces. He taught Charlot the rudiments of painting and, most importantly, found him a job with a decorative artist. At the age of 20, Charlot moved to Paris. Léon Bonnat took an interest in him and helped him prepare for the entrance examination to the École des Beaux-Arts where he was admitted in 1898 or 1899. At the Exposition Universelle of 1900 he discovered the Impressionists and was influenced by Pissarro and Cézanne who made a lasting impact upon his work. In 1905 he went to Uchon for the first time and later set up his family home there. Charlot's vast output included many landscapes of his native country, among them Village beneath the Snow, Morvan, Beeches on the Mountain and Morvan in Springtime. There are also numerous portraits of its inhabitants, such as Peasants at Their Table, Poachers, Shepherds and Shepherdesses in Morvan and Young Shepherd Playing the Flute. He painted murals in the church of Digoin and also had the opportunity to paint in Brittany and Provence. His technique varied over the course of his different periods, perhaps also in relation to the regions he visited. Overall, the Impressionist influence is consistently visible, particularly in his early works. Examples include Sunday Afternoon (1905) and Corner of the Table: Morning (1905). Furthermore, just like Pissarro, he has a vibrant sense of nature, as evidenced by Red Tree, and builds up his forms even more vividly, as in Uchon Church, Autumn and Rocks in La Motte, at the End of the Snows. Charlot first exhibited in Paris at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Français in 1901. He began exhibiting at the Salon d'Automne in 1906 and was accepted as a member. He also exhibited at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts from 1911, and at the Salon des Tuileries from 1927 to 1943. He was made an Officier of the Légion d'Honneur. In 1951 the Dijon salon Ascent (L'Essor) organised a retrospective in homage to Charlot. Then, in 1976, the Musée Rolin in Autun held a retrospective exhibition of his works. Museum and Gallery Holdings Bergerac (Mus. du Tabac) |