Champagne! – circa 1927

An expressionist work by Gen Paul depicting a couple seated at a table enjoying a bottle of champagne. A cheerful, lively work with shimmering colours and a swirling touch.

Oil on canvas


Signed lower right and on the back.

Dimensions: 65 x 81 cm

The ardor of the years 1925-1930, the best years of Gen Paul

Between abstraction and figuration, in the 20s, Gen Paul painted above all what he loved. Gen Paul loved life and our painting is a testament to this.

Gen Paul, eager for life and movement, catches faces or moments in flight which he then nervously throws onto his canvas.

GEN PAUL one of the masters of French expressionism,

Gen Paul presents a painting which, although it appears sketched, is in every way accomplished. He uses extraordinary technical virtuosity.

White occupies an important place. Spots of bright colors splash it. The painter completes his fireworks with a few strokes of black brush.

an economy of means which denotes his artistic talent.

Biography:

GEN PAUL was born at 96, rue Lepic, in a house that Van Gogh depicted in one of his paintings. His mother was an embroiderer and his father, a café musician. Being born on rue Lepic was a good sign; since then, GEN PAUL has not changed neighborhoods. Memories fill his eyes, his head and his palette. Coming out of the communal street on rue Lepic in the evening, he was already fascinated by this strange, elegant dwarf, wonderfully dressed, who then had his studio nearby, on rue Tourlaque: Toulouse Lautrec. He knew Bonnot's gang, La Goulue and the handcarts.

A painter born in Montmartre and living in Montmartre is above all a painter, Gen Paul did not spend his life painting the Sacré Coeur, the Moulin Rouge and rue Lepic.

He began painting at a very young age. His apprenticeship was original: as an apprentice interior decorator, he looked around him in the rich apartments.

Passionate about painting and eager for knowledge, he observed the works collected by art lovers, wherever his work had taken him. In addition, he became familiar with human anatomy by getting to know surgeons and accompanying them into operating rooms. He completed his training during the few years he attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

In 1913, he volunteered for the front and was wounded. A year later, a second injury led to the amputation of his right leg. Back in Paris in 1916, he began to paint. His first oil painting – the Moulin de la Galette seen from his window – dates from 1916. From then on, Eugène Paul began his career as a painter. He painted many views of Paris to satisfy demand.

He first painted a canvas, "GEN-PAUL", in 1918. In 1920, he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, and remained loyal to this institution, as well as to the Salon des Indépendants. He travelled to Spain and was confronted with the masterpieces of the masters: Goya, El Greco, Velasquez, etc. On his return, he used black even more in his compositions.

His first solo exhibition took place at the Galerie Bing in 1926. He illustrated several of Céline's books, including Voyage au bout de la nuit and Mort au crédit in 1942. He produced engravings, some of which were published in a collection entitled Vues de Montmartre.

At the end of World War II, he travelled frequently to the United States and New York. At the time, he held the rank of general. In 1952, the Drouant-David gallery in Paris dedicated a retrospective to him.

Apart from the annual events of the Parisian art scene (the Salons), Gen Paul exhibited only exceptionally. Insensitive to success and fame, he never took a painting to a dealer. They came looking for them.

The artist refused to depend on any gallery. At the end of his life, he traveled frequently to France and Spain.

Bibliography

• Francis Carco, Gen Paul, Editions of the Drouant-David Gallery, 1952.

• André Chamson, Girardin Collection, Petit Palais Editions, Paris, 1954.

• Raymond Nacenta, The School of Paris – The painters and the artistic climate of Paris since 1910, Osbourne Press, London, 1960.

• François Gibault, Céline, horseman of the apocalypse (1944-1961), Mercure de France, 1961.

• Jean-Paul Crespelle, Montmartre vivant, Hachette, 1964. See chapter 8 (pp. 224 to 247): “Gen Paul, from rue Lepic”.

• The Muses – Encyclopedia of the Arts, Éditions Grange Balelière, 1972.

• Pierre Davaine (preface by Jean Miller), Gen Paul, Éditions IGE, 1974.

• Emmanuel David (interviews with Herve Le Boterf), The profession of art dealer, Éditions France-Empire, 1978.

• Carlo a Marca (preface by Marc-Édouard Nabe, Gen Paul, Transédition, 1986.

• Gabrielle Aber-Gen Paul, Guy Vignoht (“The Power of Instinct of a Giant of Expressionism”),

•Jeanine Warnod, Gen Paul, 1895-1975, catalogue of the exhibition at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Menton, 1993.

• Chantal Le Bobinnec, Gen Paul in Montmartre, Chalmin and Perrin Editions, 1995.

• André Roussard and Carlo a Marca, Catalogue of the Gen Paul exhibition, Couvent des Cordeliers, 1995.

• Gérald Schurr, The Guidargus of Painting, Les Éditions de l'Amateur, 1996.

• Carlo a Marca, Joann a Marca, Gabrielle Aber-Gen Paul, Gen Paul (1895-1975), editions of the Hôtel Splügenschloss, Zurich, 1998.

• André Roussard, Gen Paul. The biography, Éditions André Roussard, 2006, 304 p. [presentation online [archive]].

• Jacques Lambert (preface by Claude Duneton), Gen Paul: A cursed painter among his own, La Table Ronde, 2007

• Chantal Le Boubinnec (presentation by Claude Duneton), Gen Paul in Montmartre, Les éditions de Paris – Max Chaleil, 2007

• Francesco Rapazzini, Le Moulin Rouge en folies – When the most famous cabaret in the world inspires artists, Le Cherche Midi, 2016.

• Marie-France Coquard, “Gen Paul and Jean-Pierre Serrier, two friends from Montmartre”, Revue Paris Montmartre [online presentation [archive]].

Museums

. Posthumous group exhibitions include:

. Roussard Gallery, Paris (1999)

. Roussard Gallery, Paris (2002)

. In Paris:

. Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris

. Petit Palais, Paris

. National Museum of Modern Art

. Pompidou Center

. Bourdelle Museum

. National Center for Plastic Arts

. In the provinces:

• Toulouse Museum, The Slaughterhouses.

• Granville Richard-Anacreon Museum of Modern Art,

• Honfleur, Eugène-Boudin Museum Honfleur.

• Menton, Museum of Fine Arts

•Dunkirk, Place of art and contemporary action,

• Bern, Museum of Fine Arts.

• Geneva, Petit Palais.