Background
Leroy was born in Tourcoing, France, on August 8, 1910. He was the son of Eugène Louis Leroy and Marie Thérèse Charlotte Lepers. His father died in 1911 when Eugène Leroy was 1 year old.
Lille, France
In 1931 Eugène Leroy began his brief studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lille and Paris.
Eugène Leroy.
Eugène Leroy.
Eugène Leroy.
Eugène Leroy.
Eugène Leroy in his studio.
Eugène Leroy's paintings.
14 Rue de la Grande Chaumière, 75006 Paris, France
Leroy attended drawing classes at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière.
Leroy was born in Tourcoing, France, on August 8, 1910. He was the son of Eugène Louis Leroy and Marie Thérèse Charlotte Lepers. His father died in 1911 when Eugène Leroy was 1 year old.
When he was fifteen, Eugène Leroy began to draw and discovered Rembrandt, then Jordaens, Greco and Goya. In 1931 Eugène Leroy began his brief studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lille and Paris. Soon he decided to distance himself from the Academy. He continued his education, attending drawing classes at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. However, soon he realized that he didn't fit for studies and returned to the North.
In 1935 Leroy settled near Roubaix. Parallel to his career as a painter, he worked as a teacher of Latin and Greek at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires College. In 1936, he discovered The Jewish Bride by Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which impressed him. Eugène Leroy was always interested in abstract painting, especially that of Mondrian.
He exhibited for the first time in Lille in 1937. He returned to teaching Latin and Greek from 1940 to 1945 in Roubaix. In the year 1943, he met the critic Gaston Diehl who held an exhibition in Paris. He painted the landscapes of the North Sea near Gravelines and Cross between 1945 and 1950, using mainly dark and gray colours. In 1951 the artist met the merchant Pierre Loeb who purchased a dozen of his paintings.
Inspired by the great masters, including Giorgione, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Eugène Leroy visited Germany, Spain, and Italy. Concurrently, he exhibited regularly in Lille. During 1946-1948, he worked on the production of a mural Crucifixion for the chapel of the College Notre-Dame-des-Victoires de Roubaix. Leroy exhibited in 1954 in Paris with Sam Francis, Serge Poliakoff, as well as Marcel Pouget. Two years later he exhibited with Eugene Dodeigne in Lille. The same year, the first exhibition of his works was held at the Tourcoing Museum and the following year at the Dunkirk Museum.
In 1958 Eugène Leroy settled near Lille, in Wasquehal; this change affected the format of his paintings. The same year, he made the stained glass windows of the Notre Dame des Plots of Dunkerque. He permanently exhibited at the May Salon from 1955 to 1970 in Paris and twice at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, in 1973 and 1976.
François Mathey presented Leroy's works at the School of Fine Arts in Lille in 1977. In 1979 an exhibition of Leroy's paintings took place at FIAC (Foire Internationale d’art Contemporain) in Paris. Besides, he held exhibits at the K gallery in Washington, United States, and later the Museum van Heidenhaage Kunst of Ghent, Belgium, in 1982.
In 1988, the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris dedicated him a retrospective. Then he had several solo and retrospective exhibitions in France and abroad. In 1992 Eugène Leroy participated in Documenta IX in Kassel, Germany, and in 1995 he was invited to the Venice Biennale.
Nu blanc couché au grand visage
Red flowers
Mirror
Woman (grey nude)
Untitled
Bouquet de fleur
Grande Figure
Still Life
Pink bust
Study after Giorgione
Untitled
L'homme en croix
Dans le rètro
Untitled
Emma from LA
She looks
Nu en fête
After Rembrandt
Grey Landscape
Valentine in landscape
Blue Woman
Self Portrait
Marina nue
Fish
Yellow portrait
Emma from LA
Red Landscape
Nu blanc gris
Three Graces
In grey light
Big nude with figures
Fleurs
Lying white nude with a big face
Awful nude
November
Two heads
Child's head
Nu
Pink portrait
Winter wind
Small Tree
Christ
Blue Nude
Flowers in a cloudy summer
Sophi
Tache Verte
Valentine á croix
Blue nude
Winter sea
Snow
Dark sea
Crusifixion
Landscape with rose
Blue eyes
Green nude
White Venus
Adam and Eve
Summer flowers
Window
Autoportrait
Clear Landscape
Grand nu assis
Hortus conclusus
Orages 4
Landscape with a blue spot
Eugène Leroy married Valentine Thirant in 1933. Their first son, Eugène Jean (known as "Géno"), was born in 1934. In 1944 their second son Jean-Jacques was born.