Louis Vivin

Background

Louis Vivin was born on July 28, 1861 in Hadol, Lorraine, France.

Education

Louis studied fine arts at the secondary school of Epinal. He had to give up his art training for financial reasons.

Career

Louis moved to Paris, France in the year of 1889 where he lived with his wife in the district of Montparnasse. He showed great enthusiasm for painting during his childhood, 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. He first exhibited his work in 1889 in the Post Office Art Club. When he worked in the postal service, his job was an inspector. Once he retired in the year of 1923, Louis Vivin finally decided to become a full-time artist.

Eventually, Louis was discovered by the German art critic Wilhelm Uhde who helped him start exhibitions and build a reputation as a serious artist. Uhde organised the first Naive Art exhibition, which took place in Paris in 1928. Louis was one of the participants, along with Henri Rousseau, André Bauchant, Camille Bombois, and Séraphine Louis. Collectively they became known as the Sacred Heart painters. His work included genre scenes, flower pieces, hunting scenes and views of Paris, notable for their charmingly wobbly perspective effects.

Achievements

• Louis is highly famous for his paintings "La main chaude", "Sacre coeur", and "Casino de Biarritz." Vivin's works are known to have a sad and dismal theme to them. He was also known for painting from his memory.

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Cathédrale de Notre Dame

  • Paris, Montmartre: Cirque Medrano

  • Florence

  • La main chaude

  • Venice: Canal Scene with a Bridge

  • Le château de Versailles

  • Le marché

  • Le Consult d'Auvergne et Le Sacre-Couer

  • Le Pont du Rialto

  • Paris Montmartre, Cabaret Lapin Agile

  • Intérieur d'église

  • Paris, L'Eglise de la Trinité

  • Still Life

  • Les Invalides

  • Le dejeuner sur l'herbe

  • Trois personnages avec un chien

  • L'église St. Desir

  • Venice: Canal Scene with a Church

  • Le Moulin de la Galette

  • Sacré Coeur

  • Place du Theatre (City Square with Red Phone Booth)

  • Quai aux fleurs

  • The Wedding

  • Ville au moulin près du canal en hiver

  • Chasse aux canards

  • Le peintre à Montmartre

  • Street Market

  • Le jardin du Luxembourg

  • Le Château de Saint-Germain

  • Au bord de la rivière en hiver

Views

Louis adhered to artistic traditions of French naïve painting.

Membership

• Sacred Heart Painters

References

• Louis Vivin: "His Paris"
  1971
• Louis Vivin 1861-1936
  1967
• Exposition des Ouvres de Louis Vivin, Mars 1948
  1948
• Three Primitive Masters Bauchant, Bombois, Vivin
  1969