Alon Zakaim Fine Art

Louis Abel-Truchet was a major French painter, etcher and lithographer of his time. He was born on December 29, 1857 in Versailles in Paris and this city was to remain close to his heart throughout his life. He is well known for his paintings portraying turn of the century life in Paris. Working mainly in oils his paintings included portraits of elegant young Parisian women, landscapes of the city and scenes depicting everyday life in Paris. He particularly liked to paint the artists quarter of Monmartre. Though he also produced some magnificent works showing other cities such as Venice, Padua, Sienna Marseille or Monte Carlo.

Abel-Truchet was a student at the well known Julian Academy in Paris and was a student of Julian Lefebvre and Benjamin Constant. In 1891 he began to exhibit his works in various salons, notably the Salons d'Automne; the Salon des Artistes Français; and at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, where he became a member of the society in 1910.

Abel-Truchet was deemed by many to be an ‘Impressionist’ due to the style of work he created, yet the wealth and variety of his work makes it impossible to define his role as an artist only through Impressionism. Abel-Truchet's role as a satirist of the time was also a major part of the journay of his art and this motivated him to be one of the founding members of the Society of Humorists. He has favourably been compared to the great satirists of the day such as Forain and Steinlen.

Abel-Truchet was also a member of the Cornet Society - a fraternity of artists, musicians, academics and other prominent Parisians who met regularly to discuss matters of the day. The society invited artists of the group to supply illustrations which were made into postcards and menus and Louis produced a number of illustrations for them.

At the age of fifty seven Abel-Truchet volunteered to fight in the First World War, this also became material for his art as he produced a series of lithographs depicting scenes from World War One and his own first hand experience of the war. One particularly well known lithograph is entitled ‘Stalemate at the Western Front. Defeat at Home’. It shows an Officer being told off by a woman, who seems to be his wife. It has been said that this is a self portrait of Louis himself. Apparently some said he joined up to get away from his own domestic problems.

He commanded a section of fighting troops during the war and was awarded the Legion of Honour and La Croix de Guerre. He sadly died whilst carrying out his military service in the last few months of the war.

Following his death a number of Abel-Truchet's paintings were exhibited at the Salon D’Autome in a commemorative exhibition entitled ‘Artists who died for their country’.

La Gare st Lazare

Oil on Canvas

33.0 x 46.0 cm

£ 24,000.00 GBP

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