”ANDALOUSIAN PARTY”, OIL ON TABLEX, JEAN-LOUIS PAGUENAUD (1876-1952).

“Andalusian festival”, oil on tablex, Jean-Louis Paguenaud (1876-1952). Signed and dedicated (“cantatrice Dupré”) in the lower right corner. Jean-Louis Paguenaud is the pseudonym of Jean-Philippe Paguenaud (1876-1952). He lived during his childhood in Algiers, where he discovered the sea. Moving his father to Limoges, he studied here at the School of Decorative Arts and worked in a porcelain factory. He expanded his training with William Bouguereau, entering the world of navies and made numerous trips to Martinique and North Africa, which he captured in gouaches and drawings, which he exhibited in 1905 at the Salon des Indépendants. His brother Joseph-Louis died in combat in 1914 and, to honor his memory, he decided to sign his work with one of the deceased's names. Appointed Official Painter of the French Navy in 1922, he lived for a time in Paris before returning to Limoges. He was part of a well-known voyage on the ship “Lamotte-Piquet”, which took him to Central South America. In his career, three periods are distinguished: the training period (1876-1902), the “orientalist” period (1902-1921) and a third period (1921-1942), when he was already an official painter of the Navy; He produced some more works between 1942 and 1952. His work can be seen in important private collections and in museums such as the Paris Navy, the Bourdeaux Naval School, the Coussac-Bonneval Town Hall, etc. This work shows an exterior, a square in an Andalusian town, with a large number of characters dressed in the regional costume of the area celebrating a great party. The movement is provided by couples and groups dancing in the center, an orchestra to the left, diners to the right and several couples riding horses throughout the composition. This entire scene shares prominence with the landscape: the façade of a church stands before a house and an old bridge, with a mountain in the background under a blue sky. Several characteristics of Paguenaud's work can be clearly seen: the light, which he would take from Algiers and all his travels; the compositional mastery with which he knows how to place a large number of figures; the blue sky, which is also seen in its seascapes, etc. Likewise, it is necessary to highlight the originality of the oil painting in the painter's artistic career due to its subject matter.

· Size: 233x5x175 int 213x152 cms