Vase de fleurs

Albert ANDRE
( Lyon 1869 - 1954 Laudun, Gard )


Vase de Fleurs

oil on canvas
21 1/4 x 27 7/8 inches
signed


Although born in Lyon on May 24, 1869, André spent his vacations in Laudun where his family owned vineyards and a magnificent house dating to the 19th century. As a child, his studies were already turned toward drawing and later the creation of projects for the silks of Lyon.  Nevertheless, he left for Paris where he learned painting at the Académie Julian starting in 1890. It was there that he met Valtat, Maurice Denis and Bonnard, students at the same course, and it was there that he became part of the postimpressionist movement.
Already in 1894, Albert André participated in the Salon des Indépendants where his five canvases won the admiration of August Renoir and were bought by the famous art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. From 1895 to 1901, he showed at a number of salons such as the Salon des Cent, the Salon des Indépendants, the Exposition d'Art Nouveau in the salons of the Bing Hotel. In 1904, he participated in the Salon de la Libre Esthétique in Brussels then, on the invitation of Paul Signac, in the Salon d'Automne. The Durand-Ruel gallery showed his works in a personal show. As early as 1912, Albert André's works were exposed in New York and in 1913, he was one of the painters chosen to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Libre Esthétique in Brussels, on the theme of an interpretation of southern France. The town of Laudun was always an inspiration for him, he painted mainly in his workshop directly from memory, as did his impressionist friends.
In 1923, after a fire damaged the museum of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, André's friends Bonnard, Elie Faure, Durand-Ruel, Monat, Marquet, Signac, and Valtat offered him works for his "museum of empty walls." It was in his family home that he received his friends, including Cézanne. He returned to Paris in 1947 where he died on July 11, 1954 at 85 years old, just before the opening of an exhibition of his works at the museum of Avignon. The Salon d'Automne organized a retrospective of his works the following year.    
The works of Albert André include over 3500 oils, drawings and aquarelles spread among the museums of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, Saint-Denis, Montbéliard and in the USA. His daughter, Jacqueline Besson, perpetuates his memory in the family home in Laudun.