The musical break.

Oil on board signed lower left.

Dimensions: 70 77 cm x

 Has an exhibition label on the back with the number 382:

-“Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania USA”

 Provenance: Sale of March 30, 1995 - Me Claude Boisgirard - Paris - "Collection of works by Louis Legrand of Mr and Mrs V"

Our painting appeared on the cover of the sale catalogue.

 Louis Legrand depicts here two young women in an interior listening to the piano. The painter chose to represent the third character, the pianist, by showing only his profile from behind. The interior is sober; a sofa, a chair, a small table and the pianist's rotating stool make up the decor. The emphasis is on the characters and in particular on the young redheaded woman in the center of the composition. The light coming from the left illuminates her and draws the viewer's eye to her shimmering hair and her necklace with shiny pearls. Her friend on the right is drawn with a thick and vibrant line. A few very feminine details such as the necklace, a ring, a bracelet, a small handbag, white gloves and the white shoes that appear under the pianist's seat enhance the scene. 

  Louis Legrand delivers here a work with a bold composition, which is the prerogative of the great masters. Painted with sobriety and spontaneity, the artist suggests rather than describes; his line is both firm and vibrant.

He uses light and plays with colored parts and others drawn without color. Although an economy of means characterizes the painting, the scene is alive and the artist subtly takes us into the intimacy of this relaxing scene, offering us a moment suspended in time.

 Louis Legrand was born in 1963 in Dijon. Painter, watercolourist, engraver and illustrator, he is a multifaceted artist. 

After training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, he went to Paris in 1884 and became a student of the brilliant and controversial Félicien Rops, who introduced him to different techniques including engraving. 

The master appreciates his student's abilities. In a letter dated 1888 from Félicien Rops to Mr Roques, director of the weekly "Le courrier français" he evokes "the precious and rare qualities, dominated by an extraordinary love of modeling of Louis Legrand." He also writes "You can imagine that the idea did not occur to me to teach anything to this fellow! Legrand set about without help, like ducklings going to the pond, to make beautiful drawings which attracted the attention of artists and amateurs."

 From 1902, the artist participated in the Salons des Beaux Arts in Paris, and in the Universal Exhibition of 1900 where he was awarded a medal.

He also exhibited at the Samuel Bing gallery and then in 1904 at the Georges Petit gallery. He was decorated with the Legion of Honor in 1906.

In 1911, the Durand-Ruel gallery presented a major retrospective of his work.

 Before Toulouse-Lautrec, he depicted Parisian nightlife of the Belle Epoque, the lively cafés, the women, the cancan dancers.

The Moulin Rouge ball in Paris has long been the artist's studio.

The publisher and art collector Gustave Pellet published 300 engravings for him and bought all his pastels. He also engraved erotic subjects for him.

He is the painter of “gay eroticism”.

 It is present in many private collections.

 References: 

. Camille Mauclair, Louis Legrand, painter and engraver, Floury, Paris 1910

. Dictionary of illustrators-1800-1914, Idé and Calande, Neufchatel, Paris 1989

. Bénézit, “Louis Legrand”, Oxford Art Online

 Museums: 

. In France: Dijon, the Magnin National Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts; Strasbourg, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Quimper, Museum of Fine Arts, . 

. In Switzerland: Geneva, Petit Palais.

. In the USA: Cleveland, Museum of Art; San Francisco; Washington, Smithsonian American Museum