George D'Espagnat

1870-1950

Georges d'Espagnat was born August 14, 1870 in Melun, France. He was a French Post-Impressionist painter, muralist, illustrator, and theater designer. His family moved to Paris when he was a young man in the 1880's and at the age of 18 he declined the academic training of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts spending only a few hours there and chose instead to independently study the works of the Old Masters in the Louvre and also attending classes at the free academy. By studying this painting, he became involved with prominent Impressionist painters of the time, exhibiting his work at the Salon des Refusés and the Salon des Indépendants in Paris. d’Espagnat’s depicted everyday Parisian life, female figures, landscapes, and still lifes, in a painterly style of additive brushstrokes with a unique treatment of color, resembling the Fauves.

Solo exhibitions of d’Espagne’s work were held in 1898, 1900, 1903, 1906, 1908, 1911, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris; 1902, Galerie Durand-Ruel, New York; 1922, 1923, 1926, Galerie Druet, Paris; 1944, Galerie Sagot-le-Garrec and M. Cordier.

His work can be found in many of the world’s most important museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Art Institute, Chicago, Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée d’Art Moderne, Musée Eugène Delacroix, Bibliotheque Nationale and Palais de l’Institut, Paris Musée de l’Annonciade, Saint-Tropez, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, Musée Lambinet, Versailles, Mueso Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid and the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.

As an artist that constantly strove for originality and independence d’Espagnat, marked a place for himself among the modern masters. He died on April 17, 1950 in Paris, France. In the following year he was honored with an exhibition at the same Salon d’Automne, of which he was Vice-President for several years showing a variety of his large body of work; also he has honored by Durand-Ruel Gallery shortly after with a retrospective exhibit as well.