1951
André Dunoyer de Segonzac and Henri Coudour.
André Dunoyer de Segonzac.
De Segonzac was born in Boussy-Saint-Antoine, France, on July 7, 1884. He spent most of his childhood both in his native town and in Paris. He was the son of Louis Dunoyer de Segonzac and Clémence Persil. André Dunoyer de Segonzac had three siblings, two sisters, Hélène West and Madeleine Dunoyer de Segonzac, and one brother, Pierre Dunoyer de Segonzac.
André Dunoyer de Segonzac's parents wanted their son to attend the military academy of Saint-Cyr but, noticing and recognizing his strong interest in drawing, they accepted his enrollment in the Free Academy of Luc-Olivier Merson. However, soon Segonzac realized that Merson's academic style of instruction did not suit him, and, following a period of military service, he began studying with Jean-Paul Laurens and frequenting the Academy La Palette à Montparnasse, where Jacques-Emile Blanche and Charles Guérin were teaching and where he met Luc-Albert Moreau and Jean-Louis Boussingault.
In 1908 de Segonzac submitted work for the first time to the Salon d’Automne and the Salon des Artistes Indépendants. The designer Paul Poiret, who purchased his Drinkers, became his friend and introduced him to Jean-Louis Forain, Raoul Dufy, Max Jacob and Maurice de Vlaminck.
Starting from 1909 André de Segonzac exhibited regularly at the Salon des Indépendants. The landscapes of Provence and the Ile-de-France were his pivotal sources of inspiration. De Segonzac travelled extensively, visiting Italy, Spain, and North Africa, but didn’t restrict himself to landscape painting; he was equally engaged by the body in motion, and particularly by Isadora Duncan’s dancing, which became an inspiration for the album of drawings titled Sheherazade, published in 1910. The following year, he designed the sets for Nabuchodonosor at the Théâtre des Arts.
De Segonzac participated in the Salon de la Section d'Or in October 1912 and in the Armory Show in New York in 1913. His paintings during this period revealed the influence of Cubism and occasionally that of Expressionism. On being mobilized for military service in World War I in August 1914, so he left St. Tropez to join his army corps in Fontainebleau. During the First World War, he produced a series of drawings in the trenches. After the War, he was introduced by Jean Emile Laboureur, a French printmaker, to etching.
The artist made illustrations for several literary works, including Croix de Bois by Roland Dorgelès in 1920, Tableaux de la Boxe by Tristan Bernard in 1922-1923, and Virgil’s Georgics. In 1925, with Moreau and André Villeboeuf, Dunoyer de Segonzac bought Charles Camoin's villa in St. Tropez and renamed it Le Maquis, taking inspiration for his numerous works from the town and its environs. During that time he devoted himself to transcribing the rare moments of dull grey light or cloudy skies, achieving a sense of timelessness and a melancholy mood. Greatly influenced by Cézanne, he had turned to watercolour by the end of his life. These gave his commercial success and earned official recognition.
At the beginning of the 1930s, he had several exhibits in London and New York, and toward the end of the decade undertook a series of large international exhibitions in Chicago, New York (at Carrol Carstairs), London (at Wildenstein), Basel (at Kunsthalle in 1948), and Geneva (at the Art and History Museum in 1951). He was appointed the curator of the Musée de l'Annonciade, St. Tropez, in 1955. André de Segonzac was a prolific painter in oils and watercolour, and a printmaker until the very end of his life.
André Dunoyer de Segonzac was one of the most fruitful painters of his time. Being a prominent etcher, by the end of his life he had produced about 1600 plates. De Segonzac's works were extensively exhibited all over the world, so his talent was universally recognized.
By the end of the First World War, he had earned the Croix de Guerre. De Segonzac also founded the salon Souvenir de Corot at Viroflay.
Nude with a Newspaper
Crecy-la-Chapelle, la route de Voulangis
La campagne de Grimaud
Vase de fleurs, assiette de peches, ombrelle et le Figaro
Nature morte avec ananas
Paysage
Sur la terrasse - vue de la mer
Les mimosas
Baigneuses
Le Village
Vallée du Morin en juin - Ferme de Tigeaux
Seine sur la Triel
Les canotiers sur la Marne
La brouette
Dimanche sur la Marne
Paysage bleu
La Blonde Vaporouse
Nature morte
La Cure de Soleil
The Farm on the Estate
Nue au chapeau de paille
L’Ananas
Still Life with a Cabbage
The Road from Grimaud
Paysage méditerranéen
Vase d'anemones, citrons et panier sur la table
Still Life with Peaches and Umbrella
Le Pont des Arts, Paris
Nature morte de fleurs et fruits
Nature morte au chou et bouteille
Le Morin pres de Guerard
Nude on a Bed
La bouteille de vin blanc
Fenouil, poivrons et tomates
André Dunoyer de Segonzac became a member of the Royal Academy in London (replacing Bonnard) in 1947, and the following year he was named an associate member of the Royal Academy in Brussels.
