Jean Dries was the name used by the artist Jean Driesbach, who was born on October 19, 1905, in

Bar-le-Duc Bar-le-Duc (), formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meuse département, of which it is the capital. The department is in Grand Est in northeastern France. The lower, more modern and busier part of the town extends along a narrow valley, sh ...

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

, France and died in Paris on February 26, 1973. He was a Lorrain painter by birth and was born the year

Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

appeared at the

Salon d'automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...

. He became a Parisian painter when he studied under

Lucien Simon Lucien Joseph Simon (1861 – 1945) was a French painter and teacher born in Paris. Early life and education Simon was born in Paris. After graduating from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, he studied painting at the studio of Jules Didier, then from ...

at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, through his adventures in the "zone", setting up several studios before finally settling in the

Île Saint-Louis Île Saint-Louis (), in size, is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France (the other natural island is the Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame de Paris is located). Île Saint-Louis is connected to the rest of Paris by ...

at 15 quai d'Anjou. He was also a Provençal painter since he spent time in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

following in the steps of Cézanne and

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...

in the 1930s and set up his last studio in

Aurel, Vaucluse Aurel (; oc, Aurèu) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. See also *Communes of the Vaucluse department The following is a list of the 151 communes of the Vaucluse departme ...

. He can also be considered a painter from

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

where he was drawn by his friends Jean Jardin and Edmond Duchesne and where he bought a house for his family in 1936. From 1953 to 1973 he was the curator of the

Eugène Boudin Eugène Louis Boudin (; 12 July 18248 August 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, summa ...

Museum in

Honfleur Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Honf ...

which still has some of his works on display. As Jean Dries believed that art transcended national borders he never stopped travelling outside of France and even

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. His admiration for Spanish and Italian masters led him to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He taught art at the French colonial school in

Sétif Sétif ( ar, سطيف, ber, Sṭif) is the capital of the Sétif Province in Algeria. It is one of the most important cities of eastern Algeria and the country as a whole, since it is considered the trade capital of the country. It is an inner ci ...

(

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

) for a few months and was sent by the French government to Mendoza (

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

) in the spring of 1940 to set up pictorial art studies at the

University of Cuyo The National University of Cuyo ( es, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, UNCuyo) is the largest center of higher education in the province of Mendoza, Argentina. As of 2005, the university had 12 academic schools in the city of Mendoza and a delega ...

and to promote French culture. Esthetically, he proclaimed himself to be totally independent. Starting in 1928 he exhibited in various Parisian Salons – Salon d'automne,

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 ...

Salon des indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

– and steadfastly refused to be part of any school, style or genre. He painted

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionar ...

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

self-portrait A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century tha ...

s, nudes,

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

seascape A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words an example of marine art. The word originated as a formation from landscape, which was first used of images of land in art. By a similar devel ...

s, horse races and bullfights. Although tempted by

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

Cubism 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 ...

and especially Fauvism, he never gave into abstraction or non-figurative art. In his ''Blue Notebook'' he wrote "One cannot do without nature. One must neither torture it or oneself." He was a great colorist while remaining attentive to the balance of composition. It has been said of him that he was a "fauve Cézanne".

Biography

Nothing in his family background predisposed Jean Driesbach to become a painter. His mother's family (from Lorraine and Franche-Comté) had no ties to the art world. His paternal grandparents who had been wine growers near

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

in the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is the ...

decided to leave Alsace in 1871 to remain French and had settled in Bar-le-Duc where his father was a bailiff. Jean Dries successfully completed his secondary studies despite two interruptions due to the war. The German advances in 1914-15 and in 1917-18 forced the family to seek refuge near Granville (

Manche Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.''Blue notebook'', p.5 1921 was a turning point in his life. His father died after a long illness and he was forced to work for the master glass-maker Gambut to help his family. He himself had a serious spinal injury (it immobilized him in a plaster cast for 8 months) and from which he suffered for the rest of his life. "I pass the time painting still-lifes and portraits." His talent came to the attention of his friend the future engraver Paul Lemagny and was encouraged by his philosophy teacher, Pierre Salzi, who introduced him to the painter Jules-Emile Zingg.

The formative years 1926–1930

With the financial help of the alumni association of the lycée in Bar-le-Duc (200F) and the town (800F) as well as a loan on trust from the Meuse department, Jean Driesbach left Lorraine for Paris. There he studied at the Ecole des Beaux arts with

Auguste Laguillermie Frédéric-Auguste Laguillermie (27 March 1841, Paris – 14 December 1934, Paris) was a French etcher and painter. He was one of the founders of the . Biography He was born to Eugénie, née Hime, and Frédéric-Guillaume Laguillermie (1805–1 ...

and

. He soon got a room at the

Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris Cité may refer to: Places * Cité (Paris Métro), the metro station on the ''Île de la Cité'' * Cité (Quebec), type of municipality in Quebec * Citadel, the historical centre of an old city, originally fortified * Housing estate, a group of ho ...

where he made many friends and discovered music. "That's where I first heard

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

". At the school he made some lifelong friends, including

Paul Arzens Paul Arzens (28 August 1903 – 2 February 1990) was a French industrial designer of railway locomotives and motor cars. Arzens was born in Paris, at an address along the on the northern side of the city. As a young man he studied at the ...

. At this time out of financial necessity he painted doll faces and bonbonnieres.

Work

In Paris Jean Driesbach, who was starting to be called Jean Dries, attended the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts but also the art academies in

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

where he drew a great deal. He also went to museums where he was very "impressed by

Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and t ...

and Cézanne."''Blue notebook'', p.11 Looking for nature to paint, he explored the outskirts of Paris, the banks of the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

, the "zone",

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest towns ...

and

Ville d'Avray Ville-d'Avray () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune is part of the arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt in the Hauts-de-Seine department. In 2019, it had a population of 1 ...

. His drawing talent was recognized in 1926 when he won first prize for a live model in modern dress for ''Un franciscain'' and in 1927 he obtained a teaching certificate for drawing.

Holidays

During the holidays at home in Bar-le-Duc Jean Dries painted the countryside (''Les bords de l'Ornain'', ''La forêt de Massonges''), tried his hand at portraits (his two sisters) and also his first large scale compositions: ''Trois nus dans un paysage'' (1927), and ''Le déjeuner en forêt'' (1928) "Painting has never given me so much pleasure" he wrote. He also made his first journeys. In 1928 he traveled through

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...

and the South of France (

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

and

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

). It was however his trip in February 1929 to

Cassis Cassis (; Occitan: ''Cassís'') is a commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera, in Southern France. In 2016, it ...

which made the deepest impression on him, "a marvelous journey, my dearest memory". While studying in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

at the Institut de France in February–March 1929, he met Jean Jardin who would become his lifelong friend. Together they discovered the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

and Dutch painting (

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

, Van Gogh). Finally in 1930 with another close friend, Alexandre Marc-Lipianski, he visited Spain: its landscapes and of course its museums, "What emotion Velasquez and

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

inspire".

Setting up as an artist

Early recognition

In 1928, while still a student, Dries exhibited his first large-scale paintings at the Salon d'Automne and at the Salon des Indépendants and in 1931 when just 26 he exhibited ''L'Atelier'' which he had painted the year before. These submissions drew the attention of the critics who devoted long articles to his work: in November 1932 Thiébault-Sisson wrote in ''

Le Temps ''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has b ...

'' "Dries is a born painter and I know of few talents as promising as his." In 1929 his first individual exhibition was hung in the staircase of the Comédie des Champs-Elysées (47 paintings and watercolours) and for the first time in 1930 the French Government bought one of his paintings: ''Sous-bois dans la Meuse''. Recognized by critics, appreciated by private and public collectors, in 1936 Dries was acknowledged by his peers when he met the painter

Vlaminck Maurice de Vlaminck (4 April 1876 – 11 October 1958) was a French painter. Along with André Derain and Henri Matisse, he is considered one of the principal figures in the Fauve movement, a group of modern artists who from 1904 to 1908 w ...

who asked to see some of his work and ended the visit with these words "The carp's not bad. You're a painter."

Paris and Honfleur

In 1930 he set up in Paris near the

Porte d'Orléans The Porte d'Orléans is one of 17 ''portes'' (city gates of Paris) in the Thiers wall, a defensive wall constructed in the mid-nineteenth century to protect Paris. The wall was demolished after the First World War, creating an open space that was ...

and had his mother and two sisters join him. At the same time he bought a house for them in Honfleur, where they lived until 1961. He had been drawn there by his friends Jean Jardin and Edmond Duchesne, but for someone who was in love with the South of France the first contact was difficult, “Everything seemed lackluster and listless... It would take me years to get over this distaste, to become aware of the delicacy of the landscapes of northwestern France, the cradle of impressionism.”''Blue notebook'' P. 25 He continued to travel in late 1935 to take up a teaching position at the colonial school in Sétif Algeria. Disappointed by the few months he spent there he came back with only a few sketches, “I was disoriented by orientalism” he decided. He was more inspired by the trips he made to Italy and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

(1932) and to Spain where he spent two weeks in Cadaquès, “I sometimes met the painter Salvador Dali. He had a house there and shocked the locals by the way he dressed.” A long journey in 1937 in particular took him to Cassis,

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

and

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; Provençal Occitan: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' in classical and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' in Mistralian norms) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. Loc ...

in memory of Van Gogh. He also went to

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to see his friend Paul Lemagny and discovered

Corot CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly th ...

's landscapes. In 1938 he had a major retrospective exhibition at the Charpentier Gallery including 84 paintings and 21 watercolors covering this period.

Maturity 1938–1964

At 33 Dries was a recognized artist, exhibiting regularly in shows and art galleries. His works were bought by private collectors, the City of Paris and the French government. He had houses and studios in Paris and Honfleur.

World War II and the years following

It was in December 1938 as a grant holder at the Abbaye de Royaumont near Paris that he met “Mlle Rosset, an excellent musician” who became his wife on November 11, 1939 and was thereafter his favorite model. When the war broke out they were in Provence where Dries was a resident at the Laurent-Vibert Foundation. As his state of health precluded his being mobilised, he was at first posted as an art teacher to the Parisian

Lycée Carnot The Lycée Carnot is a Public school (government funded), public secondary school, secondary and higher education school at 145 Boulevard Malesherbes in the XVIIe arrondissement, 17th arrondissement, Paris, France. The Lycée Carnot was founded in ...

which had been sent to Normandy for safety reasons. He was again disappointed by the experience. “I've got better things to do” he wrote in December of that year. The French government then sent him to Argentina to Mendoza where at Cuyo University he organized painting classes and his wife taught music. It was during the stopover in

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

that they learned of the defeat of France in the spring of 1940. In Argentina and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Dries found new landscapes to paint, interested students and new friends, the engraver

Victor Delhez Victor Delhez (March 16, 1902– January 4, 1985), best known for his woodcut engravings, was born in Antwerp, Belgium, and died in Mendoza, Argentina, Mendoza, Argentina. Life Early life and education Delhez was one of seven children. He studie ...

and the opera singer

Jane Bathori Jane Bathori (14 June 1877 – 25 January 1970) was a French mezzo-soprano. She was famous on the operatic stage and important in the development of contemporary French music. Life and career Born Jeanne-Marie Berthier, she originally studie ...

, but was overwhelmed by sadness and worry for his family back in France. In spite of the offer of a five-year contract and the success of his exhibition in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

presented by Margarita Abella Caprile, the Dries decided to return to France. They boarded ship December 4, 1941, three days before navigation became impossible after the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

on December 7. On the way back the Portuguese Minister of Propaganda invited them to stop in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

where Dries exhibited a few paintings, “unexpectedly successful, ...enthusiastic press coverage, lots of buyers” before reaching Paris in the spring of 1942. They found an apartment at 15 quai d’Anjou on Île Saint-Louis which became his ‘haven’ of choice and his studio until he died. He spent time in Paris, Honfleur and the South of France and his painting went in a new direction which would last several years. He began work on two paintings which would become recognized as two of his major works: ''Le portrait de la mère de l’artiste'' and especially ''Paris, 25 août 1944'', "a nude woman leaning over a balcony where flags are waving. She symbolizes Paris at long last free."''Blue notebook'' p. 61 The use of highly contrasting colours, the red outline around forms marks the beginning of what some have called 'the red period'. After the war Dries began travelling again, in 1947 to Italy and Switzerland and Provence (where the Laurent-Vibert foundation offered him a second residency, the first having been cut short by the war), in 1948 to London and in 1949 to

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

in Spain. That same year their son Sebastien joined the family and inspired the artist with new themes.

After the ''Blue Notebook'' (1950–1964)

The ''Blue Notebook'', in which Dries jotted down his artistic reflections, ended in 1950. He was probably too taken up by his work, family life and as curator at the Eugène Boudin Museum in Honfleur. He received many orders for paintings: two for the Chamber of Commerce in Caen in 1948, the Cité Universitaire in Paris (Victor Lyon Foundation) in 1950, the Middle School and the Chamber of Commerce of Honfleur in 1958, the

Compagnie Générale Transatlantique The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the Péreire brothers, brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the ...

for the ore carrier Lens in 1959 and most importantly for the Flandres suite on the liner France in 1961. He tried his hand at lithography (only two works: ''Bassin de la Gare'' à Honfleur and ''Le Jockey'', 1956) and at illustrating (''La Sainte Vehme'' de Pierre Benoit published in 1969 by

Albin Michel Albin may refer to: Places * Albin, Wyoming, US * Albin Township, Brown County, Minnesota, US * Albin, Virginia, US People * Albin (given name), origin of the name and people with the first name "Albin" * Albin (surname) ;Mononyms * Albin of ...

). His main occupation however was painting for himself. He took his inspiration from studies done during his travels (''Le Vallon à Menton'' in 1960 or ''Le Port de Saint-Tropez'' in 1958 and ''San Giorgio Maggiore''

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1957), horse races, and seascapes (''Le Bonheur à Deauville'' in 1955). But more and more of his time was taken up by two other activities. He co-founded the Société des Artistes Honfleurais, which for fifty years organized an annual show. And in 1950 he became the assistant to Voisard-Margerie, the curator of the municipal Honfleur Museum from whom he took over in 1953. These activities were time-consuming and took a toll on his health. His work as a painter was crowned in 1958 by the Grand Prix for painting awarded by the city of Paris and the first prize in painting delivered by the town of

Montrouge Montrouge () is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. After a long period of decline, the population has increased again in recent years. ...

in 1962. That same year his endeavours on behalf of art were acknowledged by the French Government when he was named chevalier of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

The last ten years (1964–1973)

Despite his failing health, he opened a new studio in Aurel (Vaucluse). He was attracted there by his love for Mediterranean landscapes and by his friend, the painter Pierre Ambrogiani, whose work was exhibited in the same Parisian art gallery as Dries. Charmed by the village and the surroundings which reminded him of Sétif, he returned there every summer to soak up the atmosphere of the solidly structured landscapes dear to Cézanne and the vibrant colours associated with fauvism. But the museum in Honfleur took up too much time: he was sometimes forced to leave the South to oversee the work on the addition to the museum which began in 1972. When returning from a visit to the construction site he was struck down by a heart attack in his Parisian flat on February 26, 1973. He left unfinished his final work, ''Montagne de la Sainte-Victoire'', an ultimate tribute to Cézanne, the master of

Aix Aix or AIX may refer to: Computing * AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems *An Alternate Index, for a Virtual Storage Access Method Key Sequenced Data Set *Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belgium ...

Works

A little known artist

"Jean Dries, a secretive man" He talked little about his art, except in his ''Blue Notebook (Cahier Bleu)'' which ended in 1950. The only publication which covers his work extensively is ''Jean Dries'' which was published in 1979 by Junès et fils and even that is not really an academic study. It is therefore difficult to present succinctly such a varied production where the only documentation consists of numerous articles in the press.

Some permanent traits

Independence

He belonged to no school. "I am not at all impressed by schools. I do my own work. I try to express myself as sincerely and as completely as possible."Dries's response to François Pluchart in ''Combat'' March 14th, 1962. He has, however, sometimes been associated with the

École de Paris The School of Paris (french: École de Paris) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importance ...

or with a group called the "peintres de l'Estuaire" who were an informal group with no other common bond than an affection for Honfleur and the Seine estuary. He felt totally free in the choice of his subjects. In 1962

Daniel-Rops Henri Daniel-Rops ( Épinal, 19 January 1901 – Tresserve, 27 July 1965) was a French Roman Catholic writer and historian whose real name was Henri Petiot. Biography Daniel-Rops was the son of a military officer. He was a student at the Facultie ...

said "What did he paint? What he saw ...anything at all." "He was an open admirer of the Normandy landscape, buxom nudes and wholesome earthly pleasures." Dries tried his hand at landscapes (of Normandy and elsewhere), nudes, still lives, portraits, seascapes, horse races, and large-scale compositions. No subject left him indifferent.

High standards

Dries "is constantly seeking, he's never satisfied, he's always evolving." "I'm working on a big painting that I call ''Concert Champêtre''... I'm sending it to the Tuileries, but I'm not very satisfied with it." This dissatisfaction explains why many of his paintings weren't signed. He only signed paintings he was going to exhibit or sell. To his way of thinking, a painting was never completed and he could always alter it. Dries didn't hesitate to destroy paintings he wasn't satisfied with. In 1956 he estimated that he had “done about 1100 paintings including 300 or so which had been destroyed by the artist.”

Constant evolution

Even once he reached maturity Dries never stopped exploring new paths, "What's important to me is the structure of the composition. I always return to the same themes, but treat them differently depending on what I am experimenting with at the time." This diversity makes it difficult to classify the artist and his works in a narrowly defined category. There are nonetheless certain permanent preoccupations: "You can't do without nature"''Blue notebook'' p.75 As Jean Bouret said, "Somebody's going to say 'How realistic it all is', and I, of course, am going to have a fit, because Dries doesn't describe the object (he's painting), but transforms it into an object that has been plunged into a very different world, because he is a true painter." According to Clément Rosset "The privilege of the painter is to render palpable the singularity of all that exists, its foreignness and its solitude." So he rejected abstract art, was faithful to nature, but to a nature transposed. He was also faithful to certain masters seen in museums (Courbet, Cézanne) or studios (Favory). Lastly memories of his childhood in Lorraine and outings in the forests of the Meuse influenced his palette giving it "pure tones dominated by blues and greens. And the use of earthy hues and black."

An attempt at a chronology

A history of the works by Dries is possible, based on his all-too-rare writings on the subject, but also difficult as he seldom hesitated to rework old paintings according to his current experiments and state of mind.

Early works

Well into the 1930s Dries was still trying to find himself. And although the critics had already recognized his talent he was sometimes reproached for not mastering composition or for letting himself be too influenced by his contemporaries. Nonetheless his first paintings already exhibit a certain originality as can be seen in his first self-portrait.(''Autoportrait'' 1926)

The impact of his first trips

Discovering the Midi and the intense light of the south of France created a shock that altered his way of seeing and his style: "I'm seeing Cézanne's motifs and am literally enchanted" "Is it my travels in Spain, the light in the South? I'm going to have to take care to make my tones lighter and warmer" ''Le chemin à Cassis'' (1933) comes from this period.

His "Impressionist" phase

This attention to light, reinforced by his first difficult contact with Honfleur and by his desire to hold on to what he thought defined French art, especially after the defeat of 1940, drove him to experiment briefly with impressionism. "At Lourmarin (1939)… studying the problem of light when painting outdoors drew me inevitably closer to the impressionists. I knew it was just an experiment, but I threw myself into it." ''Le jardin d'Honfleur'' dates from this period. It's noteworthy that paradoxically Dries fails to mention the names of any impressionists in his Blue notebook.

His "Red" period

Dries's work in the period 1943-1944 opened a highly original chapter in his aesthetic thinking. "In May 1943 I started work on a painting of the

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that I would later call ''Paris, 25 août 1944''… the red outline is very sustained (heavy). The oranges and reds contrast with the dark blues, the transition is made of lilac tones and greens." At this time, like the fauve painters, Dries exalted colour to the utmost. "It's a very cerebral

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of pure artistry." where sometimes, in his use of pure solid colours, in the red or black outlines, the artist was without doubt inspired by his memories of time spent working in the workshop of the master glassmaker Gambut. This is noticeable in ''Le paysage dans la colline'' of 1947. But this cerebral work, though undoubtedly necessary, is dangerous: "this cerebral work which dictates colour arrangements leads to decoration and abstraction. What is decorative is poor and artificial."

A return to reason? (1950–1960)

Jean Dries went back to a more classical style to the relief of certain art critics shocked by his "red" period. "In August – September

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I felt an imperious need to go back to painting landscapes outdoors." His palette became less extreme and returned to the greens, blues and earthy hues which had been forsaken during the red period. Most of his horse race paintings and works like ''Le ruisseau de montagne'' (1960) are from this period.

Back to the south of France (1960–1973)

Dries spent the free time 'his' Honfleur museum left him in the house he bought in Aurel in the Vaucluse. He went back to the colours of the south and his palette became lighter but in a more serene and peaceful style that he will maintain until his sudden disappearance in 1973. "Now the paint gives life to tone as well as the form in such a way that for Dries, a patient man, paint, colour and form are of equal importance." This can be seen in his last works of which ''Le plateau d'Albion'' (1970) is an example. As the art critic, Robert Vrinat said "the solid but not rigid composition shows Dries to be a disciple of Cézannian thinking which he went back to with gusto as had Friesz and Vlaminck."

Annexes

Exhibits

Main personal exhibits

* 1929 : Paris, escalier de la Comédie des Champs-Élysées * 1938 : Paris, Gallery Charpentier * 1941 : Buenos-Aires (Argentine), Gallery Amigos del Arte * 1942 : Lisbonne (Portugal), the Propaganda Ministry gallery * 1946 : Paris, Gallery Durand-Ruel * 1947 : Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA), Gallery Georges de Braux * 1957 : Paris, Gallery Katia Granoff * 1965 et 1971 : Paris, Gallery Paul Ambroise Retrospectives * 1977 : Honfleur, Gallery Braquehaye * 1979 : Cologne (West Germany), Gallery Boisseree am Museum * 1983 : Museums of Bar-le-Duc and of Honfleur * 1988 : Bergen (The Netherlands) * 1990 : Lourmarin (Vaucluse) * 1995 : Honfleur, Gallery Arthur Boudin * 2005 : Honfleur, Musée Eugène Boudin

Group exhibits

As a member of the Salon d’Automne and of the Salon des Indépendants, Dries regularly exhibited works in them starting in 1928. As an invited guest, he exhibited works in the Salon des Tuileries, Salon du Dessin et de la Peinture à l’eau, aux Peintres Témoins de leur Temps, and in the Salons of Honfleur, Asnières, Terres Latines, and Comparaisons. Dries also frequently participated in numerous group exhibits, for example: * 1945 : Galliera Museum, Paris – French painters in London * 1947 : Georges de Braux Gallery,

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) - Still Life * 1953 : Charpentier Gallery - Nudes * 1958 : National Museum of Modern Art,

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(Mexico) * 1960 : Group Comparison, Ueno Museum in

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(

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) and the cities of

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… * 1968 : Schmit Gallery, Paris – The French Tradition * 1976 : City of

Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film Fes ...

– Fauvism in Normandy

State Acquisitions

* 1930 : ''Sous-bois dans la Meuse'' * 1936 : ''La mare de Saint-Michel'' * 1936 : ''La Zone au printemps'' * 1938 : ''La campagne au matin'' * 1938 : ''Vue sur la Madrague'' * 1939 : ''La carpe'' * 1948 : ''La moisson à Francheville'' * 1951 : ''Nature Morte : Les poires sur la table'' * 1952 : ''Nature Morte aux fruits'' * 1953 : ''Le port de Saint-Tropez'' * 1955 : ''Le bonheur à Deauville'' * 1963 : ''Le vallon à Menton'' * 1977 : ''La nymphette''

Where works by Dries can be seen

A number of museums have pictures by Jean Dries in their collections. In Paris: * Musée national d’art moderne :
Les poires sur la table

Le port de Saint-Tropez
'' * Musée du Domaine départemental de Sceaux

* Fonds national d'art contemporain * Fond municipal d'art contemporain de Paris Elsewhere in France: *

Musée de Grenoble The Museum of Grenoble (french: Musée de Grenoble) is a municipal museum of Fine Arts and antiquities in the city of Grenoble in the Isère region of France. Located on the left bank of the Isère River, place Lavalette, it is known both for ...

: ''Le bonheur à Deauville'' * Musée de Riom : ''Nature morte à la clarinette'' * Médiathèque de Deauville: ''Sur la plage à Deauville''A very large canvas (188cm x 560cm) probably his largest. Above all Honfleur, in the Musée Eugène-Boudin ( fr), where the largest Dries collection can be found. Abroad: * Museum of Mendoza * Museum of Buenos Aires

References

Bibliography

* J.A. Cartier : ''Jean Dries 1905'', Ed. Pierre Cailler, Genève 1956 in the cahiers d’art-documents No. 42 *

: ''DRIES'', Ed. Pierre Cailler, Geneva, 1962 * ''L’officiel des arts'' (Annuaire international des arts plastiques), published by the Société des revues et publications, Tome I, p. 331 Paris, 1978 * Collective : ''Jean Dries'', Ed. Junes et fils, Suresnes, 1979 (Presentation by

Jean Adhémar Jean Adhémar (18 March 1908 – 30 June 1987) was a French librarian, academic, and art historian. He was born in Paris, France. Adhémar was Curator of the "Cabinet Des Estampes (prints)" at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France from 1932 to ...

, Jean Bouret,

Fernand Ledoux Fernand Ledoux (born Jacques Joseph Félix Fernand Ledoux, 24 January 1897, Tirlemont – 21 September 1993, Villerville) was a French film and theatre actor of Belgian origin. He studied with Raphaël Duflos at the CNSAD, and began his ca ...

, Georges Poisson and Michel de Saint Pierre) * ''Jean Dries : Notes du Cahier bleu'', Ed. Musée de Bar-le-Duc 1983. Presentation by J. Warnod et M. Gohel in the catalogue for the 1983 exhibit at the Musée de Bar-le-Duc. *

Pierre Assouline Pierre Assouline (born 17 April 1953) is a French writer and journalist. He was born in Casablanca, Morocco to a Jewish family. He has published several novels and biographies, and also contributes articles for the print media and broadcasts for ...

: ''Une éminence grise'', Ed. Balland, 1986 * ''Jean Dries 1905-1973 : Catalogue of the works in the museum's collection'', Ed. Société des Amis du Musée Eugène Boudin, Imprimerie Marie, Honfleur July 5, 1989.

External links

Official site of Jean Dries

Musée de Bar-le-Duc

Musée du domaine départemental de Sceaux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dries, Jean 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters People from Bar-le-Duc 1905 births 1973 deaths Knights of the Legion of Honour