Georges-Charles Dufresne (23 November 1876, Millemont - 8 August 1938,

La Seyne-sur-Mer La Seyne-sur-Mer (; "La Seyne on Sea"; oc, La Sanha), or simply La Seyne, is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 62,888. La Seyne-sur-Mer, which is pa ...

) was a French painter, engraver, sculptor and decorator.

Biography

He came from a family of sailors and fishermen that originated in Granville. He left school to study engraving, then went to Paris, where he enrolled at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...

and found a position in the workshops of

Hubert Ponscarme François Joseph Hubert Ponscarme (20 April 1827, Belmont-lès-Darney - 27 February 1903, Malakoff, Hauts-de-Seine, Malakoff) was a French sculptor and medallist. Biography He was the second of twelve children born to a family of farmers. At tha ...

. Later, he became an assistant to the sculptor and

medalist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...

Alexandre Charpentier Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier (1856–1909) was a French sculptor, medalist, craftsman, and cabinet-maker. Life and work From working-class origins and apprenticed to an engraver as a young man, he became a studio assistant to the innov ...

. He was more attracted to painting, however, and began making pastels at

Café-chantant (French: lit. 'singing café'), , or , is a type of musical establishment associated with the Belle Époque in France. The music was generally lighthearted and sometimes risqué or even bawdy but, as opposed to the cabaret tradition, not parti ...

s and circuses and

guinguette The guinguette was a popular drinking establishment in the suburbs of Paris and of other cities in France. Guinguettes would also serve as restaurants and often as dance venues. The origin of the term comes from ''guinguet'', indicating a local ...

s, in the manner of

Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the la ...

. His first exhibition came at the Salon of the

Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; en, National Society of Fine Arts) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Es ...

in 1903. Following that, he and his close friend, the American-born engraver , went on an extended trip to Italy and stayed at the

Villa Médicis The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici ...

. In 1908, he spent some time working in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

at the invitation of . In 1910, he was one of the winners of the

Abd-el-Tif prize The Prix Abd-el-Tif (Abd-el-Tif prize) was a French art prize that was awarded annually from 1907–1961. It was modelled on the Prix de Rome, a scholarship that enabled French artists to stay in Rome. The award was devised in 1907 by Léonce Bé ...

and spent two years at the

Villa Abd-el-Tif The Villa Abd-el-Tif, also known as ''la Villa Medicis algérienne'', is a Moorish villa located in Algiers, Algeria. It is notable for having been set up in 1907 in emulation of the French Academy in Rome, the Villa Medici. It was, until 1962, h ...

in Algiers, where he turned from pastels to oil painting. After returning, he opened a studio and produced numerous Orientalist works. He was mobilized at the beginning of World War I. After being gassed, he was transferred to the

Section de Camouflage Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

, under the command of an old acquaintance, the painter

André Dunoyer de Segonzac André Dunoyer de Segonzac (6 July 1884 – 17 September 1974) was a French painter and graphic artist. Biography Segonzac was born in Boussy-Saint-Antoine and spent his childhood there and in Paris. His parents wanted him to attend the military ...

. During this time, he managed to paint some

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

scenes of the war. In 1921,

Jacques Rouché Jacques Louis Eugène Rouché (16 November 1862, Lunel - 9 November 1957, Paris) was a French art and music patron. He was the owner of the journal ''La Grande Revue'' and manager of the Théâtre des Arts and the Paris Opera. Biography He w ...

, Director of the

Opéra de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

, commissioned him to design sets for ''Antar'', a ballet by

Henri Caïn Henri Cain (11 October 1857 – 21 November 1937) was a French dramatist, opera and ballet librettist. He wrote over forty librettos from 1893 to his death, for many of the most prominent composers of the Parisian Belle Epoque. Cain was born in ...

with music by

Gabriel Dupont Gabriel Édouard Xavier Dupont (1 March 1878 – 1 August 1914) was a French composer, known for his operas and chamber music. Biography Dupont was born in Caen. Following after his father who was a teacher at the Malherbe secondary school and t ...

. Two years later, he was one of the founders of the

Salon des Tuileries The Salon des Tuileries was an annual art exhibition for painting and sculpture, created June 14, 1923, co-founded by painters Albert Besnard and Bessie Davidson, sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, architect Auguste Perret, and others. The first year's ex ...

. Between 1921 and 1923, on a commission from

Louis Süe Louis Süe (14 July 1875 – 7 August 1968) was a French painter, architect, designer and decorator. He and André Mare co-founded the ''Compagnie des arts français'', which produced Art Deco furniture and interior decorations for wealthy customer ...

and

André Mare Charles André Mare (1885–1932), or André-Charles Mare, was a French painter and textile designer, and co-founder of the Company of French Art (''la Compagnie des Arts Français'') in 1919. He was a designer of colorful textiles, and was one o ...

(whom he had met while in the camouflage section), he created tapestry designs on the theme of ''

Paul et Virginie ''Paul et Virginie'' (sometimes known in English as ''Paul and Virginia'') is a novel by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, first published in 1788. The novel's title characters are friends since birth who fall in love. The story is set ...

'', for use as Art Deco furniture coverings. The completed ensemble, using new weaving techniques, was presented at the

International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts (french: Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes) was a World's fair held in Paris, France, from April to October 1925. It was designed by the Fren ...

in 1925. In the late 1920s, he became a teacher at the "", an art school established with Scandinavian patronage that operated from 1919 to 1935. In 1936, he created more tapestry designs for the

Mobilier National The ''Mobilier National'' is a French national service agency under the supervision of the French Ministry of Culture. It administers the Gobelins Manufactory and Beauvais Manufactory The Beauvais Manufactory () is a historic tapestry factory in ...

. That same year, he painted decorations in the foyer of the

Palais de Chaillot The Palais de Chaillot () is a building at the top of the in the Trocadéro area in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th ''arrondissement'' of Paris, France. For the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937) ...

. His last commission, completed just before his death, involved five large murals for the "", a division of

Paris Descartes University Paris Descartes University (french: Université Paris 5 René Descartes, links=no), also known as Paris V, was a French public university located in Paris. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 ...

. A major retrospective of his work was presented at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

shortly after his death. Dufresne-Concert

External links

ArtNet: More works by Dufresne.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dufresne, Charles 1876 births 1938 deaths 19th-century French painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French designers French decorative artists Camoufleurs Orientalist painters French textile designers Set designers People from Yvelines Cubist artists 19th-century French male artists

Biography

See also

Further reading

External links