Louis Vivin (born 28 July 1861, Hadol, France; died 28 May 1936 in Paris) was a French

primitivist Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...

painter.

Biography

Vivin was born in Hadol, France. He showed great enthusiasm for painting as a child, but his career took him in a completely different direction: he worked as a postal clerk until 1922, pursuing his art only in his spare time. Once he retired in 1923, Vivin finally took up the full-time part of being an artist. He moved to Paris in 1889 where he lived with his wife in the district of Montparnasse. He was a

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...

and a representative of

naïve painting Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...

. Eventually, he was discovered by the German art critic

Wilhelm Uhde Wilhelm Uhde (28 October 1874, Friedeberg, Province of Brandenburg (now Poland) – 17 August 1947, Paris) was a German art collector, dealer, author and critic, an early collector of modernist painting, and a significant figure in the career of H ...

(1874–1947), an association which helped him start exhibiting and build a reputation as a serious artist.

Works

The subjects of Vivin's paintings were

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 ...

, hunting subjects, and the city of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Vivin was a contemporary of

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Camille Bombois Camille Bombois (3 February 1883 – 6 June 1970) was a French naïve painter especially noted for paintings of circus scenes. Bombois was born in Venarey-les-Laumes in the Côte-d'Or, in humble circumstances. His childhood was spent living ...

André Bauchant André Bauchant (April 24, 1873 – August 12, 1958) was a French 'naïve art, naïve' painter. He is known mostly as a painter of flowers and of landscape compositions with figures which were often informed by mythology and classical history. ...

, and

Séraphine Louis Séraphine Louis, known as Séraphine de Senlis (Séraphine of Senlis; 3 September 1864 – 11 December 1942), was a French painter in the naïve style. Self-taught, she was inspired by her religious faith and by stained-glass church windows an ...

, known collectively as the "Sacred Heart Painters" and as masters of French

. Vivin's works are known to have a sad and dismal theme to them. He was also known for painting from his memory. Louis Vivin was influenced by the work and details of

Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (; 21 February 181531 January 1891) was a French Classicist painter and sculptor famous for his depictions of Napoleon, his armies and military themes. He documented sieges and manoeuvres and was the teacher of Édo ...

’s paintings. His works depicted genre scenes, flower pieces, hunting scenes and views of Paris, "notable for their charmingly wobbly perspective effects". Louis Vivin’s first one-man exhibition was placed at the ''Galerie des Quatre Chemins'', and it was organized by

in 1927. His later work was considered to become less dependent of the melancholy mood, and it focused more on blocks of color and form.

Lists of his selected artworks

Southampton City Art Gallery * ''Venice: Canal Scene with a Church'' * ''La main chaude'' * ''Les Invalides'' * ''Venice: Canal Scene with a Bridge'' Auction Christie's * ''La place des Halles et l'eglise Saint-eustache, Paris'', 1935 * ''Sacre coeur'' * ''Vue de sacre coeur'' Private collectionsLouis Vivin - Artworks
Retrieved on 28 Feb 2018 * ''Casino de Biarritz'' * ''The Flower Market'', 1914 * ''Gare Montparnasse, Paris'' * ''Luncheon on the Grass'', 1925 * ''Paris, Eglise de la Trinité'', 1925 * ''Paris, Montmartre: Cirque Medrano'', 1925

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vivin, Louis 1861 births 1936 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Post-impressionist painters Naïve painters Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century French male artists