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LUCIEN SIMON
1861 - 1945
(b Paris, 18 July 1861; d Paris, 1945).
French painter and illustrator. He first exhibited in Paris at the Salon des Artistes Français, showing portraits and religious subjects, and later at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He specialized in depictions of the life and landscape of Brittany, which he first saw in 1890 after marrying the sister of the French artist André Dauchez (1870-1948). In 1895 he met Charles Cottet, whom he greatly admired, and the three artists then became closely associated (see Bande noire). Cottet was to be a considerable influence on Simon's style, though Simon used brighter colours and broad brushstrokes derived from Manet. The Procession (1901; Paris, Petit Pal.) is characteristic of his Breton subjects. Here he depicted the primitive Breton lifestyle infused with strong religious feeling and blended the figures into the landscape. As well as his Breton scenes he painted portraits and interior scenes, such as Family (1927; Ottawa, N.G.)
In 1911 Simon was made an Officier de la Légion d'honneur and in 1927 was elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. At the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (Paris, 1937) he was awarded the Grand Prix. In addition to painting he also illustrated books: together with Cottet and Dauchez he illustrated works by André Suarès and, on his own, illustrated Edmond Haraucourt's Le Poison (Paris, 1920). Several of his pupils such as the French painters Henri Jannot (b 1909) Yves Brayer (b 1907) and Georges Rohner (b 1913) continued working in Simon's style.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Edouard-Joseph
Post-Impressionism (exh. cat. by J. House and M. A. Stevens, London, RA, 1979-80)
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© Oxford University Press 2007
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