Léon Georges Jean-Baptiste Carré (23 June 1878 – 2 December 1942) was a French Orientalist painter and illustrator, noted for illustrating the book, ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.''

Life and career

Carré was born in Granville, Manche, of Norman ancestry. He showed an early talent for drawing. He studied in Rennes under Mathurin Méheut. At the age of 19 years, he left Brittany with a good job as a decorator and in Paris studied with

Leon Bonnat Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

and Luc-Olivier Merson.; Association Culturelle des Francais, d'Afrique du Nord, "Léon Carré," iographical Notes Online: http://www.cerclealgerianiste.fr/index.php/archives/encyclopedie-algerianiste/celebrites/artistes-celebres/153-leon-carre-1878-1942 (translated from French) He exhibited at the French Salon des Artistes in 1900; at the Salon des Independents in 1905; the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1907 and the Salon d'Automne in 1911. He was the winner of the Abd-el-Tif prize and a two-time winner of the Chenavard Prize. He primarily worked in oil, gouache and pastel. Among his works are illustrations for the 12-volume edition of ''

Le livre des mille nuits et une nuit ''Le livre des mille nuits et une nuit'' (English: ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'') is a 12-volume French translation of ''One Thousand and One Nights'' by J. C. Mardrus. The volumes, 298×228 mm each, were published in 1926–1932 ...

'' (''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'') by

J. C. Mardrus Joseph Charles Mardrus, otherwise known as "Jean-Charles Mardrus" (1868–1949), was a French physician, poet, and a noted translator. Today he is best known for his translation of the ''Thousand and One Nights'' from Arabic language, Arabic into ...

. One of his works, ''The Ruins of El Djem Amphitheatre, Tunisia'' is on the French 50 franc bank note. Carré began his artistic career painting scenes of Parisian street life. He travelled to Algiers in 1905. One of his first Orientalist works, the ''Arab Market'' (''Marché Arabé'') earned him the Prix Chevanard (Chevanard Prize) in 1905. After marrying the painter, Anne Marie "Ketty" Lederer (1882–1964), the couple set up a villa at Abd-el-Tif where a number of Oriental artists were already established. During the Abd-el-Tif period, Carré made many drawings of Orientalist scenes; ''The Gypsies of Granada'', ''The Jews of Morocco'', ''The Courtesans of Biskra'', ''The Arab in Prayer'' and ''The Woman with the Tambourine.'' He won the Abd-el-Tif prize in 1909. Later, Carré and his wife moved to Algiers permanently. Carré travelled extensively moving as far south as Biskra and spending most of 1911 in Spain while his wife pursued independent projects. In 1921, with the painters

Louis Ferdinand Antoni Louis Ferdinand Antoni (15 November 1872, Bastia – 14 December 1940, Algiers) was a French Orientalist painter and sculptor. Biography Not long after his birth, his family moved from Corsica to Algeria. There, he studied at the Collège S ...

and , he decorated the new halls of the Palais d'Eté, designed tourist posters, models of postage stamps for the Bank of Algeria. In 1927, he contributed to the decoration of the liner "Ile-de-France". He was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1936. Carré died in Algiers on 2 December 1942 at his studio in the rue Dumont-d'Urville, Algiers where he had been living since the war and where he was surrounded by his paintings and those of his wife.Association Culturelle des Francais, d'Afrique du Nord, "Léon Carré," iographical Notes Online: http://www.cerclealgerianiste.fr/index.php/archives/encyclopedie-algerianiste/celebrites/artistes-celebres/153-leon-carre-1878-1942 (translated from French)

Work

Select list of paintings * ''The Coastal'', 1903 * ''The Arab Market'',1905 * ''Corrida de Toros'', he Bullfight1911 * ''The Gitanes of Granada'', ypsies of Granadac. 1911 * ''"The Jews of Morocco'', 1909-1911 * ''The Courtesans of Biskra'', 1909-1911 * ''The Arab in Prayer'', 1909-1911 * ''The Woman with the Tambourine'', 1909-1911 * ''Pastoral'', 1913

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carre, Leon 1878 births 1942 deaths 19th-century French painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French illustrators French male painters Orientalist painters People from Granville, Manche 19th-century French male artists

Life and career

Work

See also

References