Fernand Allard L'olivier (1883-1933)

The elegant ladies with a bouquet of flowers Pair of large oil on canvas, signed in the middle below. Nice quality. Provenance : Private collection, Nice. Dimensions : 68 x 46 cm Neo-impressionist painter, watercolorist and lithographer, he is also a decorator and illustrator. He trained in engraving at the Academy of Tournai and in lithography in Brussels in his father's workshop. He then perfected his skills in Paris at the Académie Julian with Bourguereau and Adier, but his real master was Jean-Paul Laurens. In 1909 and 1910 he stayed in Brittany and discovered the light and pure colors, his style, realistic until then, became impressionist. He exhibited for the first time in 1910 in Paris with "Les Indépendants", in 1912 with "Les Artistes Français" and in 1924. Promoted to the rank of "Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur", Allard l'Oliver then undertook numerous trips to Europe and to North African countries such as Algeria and Tunisia. But it was in the Congo, in 1928, that the third part of his career began. His African paintings dynamically recreate the atmosphere of a fleeting, picturesque moment of customary life in a bygone era. Most of his compositions are painted in broad brush strokes, flooded with light and bursting with color. He returned to the Congo in 1933, but on his return trip, he accidentally drowned in the river after falling from the upper deck of the "Flandre". Main museums: several works acquired by the Museum of the Army in Brussels, Museum of Fine Arts Tournai and Museum of La Louvière.