Jean Puy
Roanne, France, 1876 - 1960
Although he was a Fauve painter (albeit for only a few years, c. 1905-1908), he is distinguished from them by good taste and discretion. His works are in fact a compromise between Impressionism and Fauvism. Puy can be considered an independent artist, having not associated himself with other movements.
After classical studies at the high school, in 1895 he attended architectural courses at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lyon and took supplementary drawing classes with academic portrait painter Tony Tollet. In 1898 he moved to Paris and enrolled at the Académie Julian where he was a student of Jean-Paul Laurens and Benjamin-Constant. Tired of these too traditional teachings, he attends the new Academy just created by Eugène Carrière where he meets, among others, the future "Fauves": Matisse, Derain, Camoin, Manguin. Carrière recommends that students draw freely and pushes them resolutely toward modern art.
Since his discovery of the Breton localities Pouldu, Bénodet, and St-Guénolé in 1899, Puy feels a very strong attachment to these lands and decides to spend much of the beautiful season between Roanne and northwestern France. He returned to Paris only in winter, where he painted in the atelier. His enthusiasm for Brittany is linked above all to his passion for the sea. He buys a boat and, with the help of his friend Paul Signac learns to sail. From port to port he travels the entire coast and, painting from the boat, he is better able to capture the vitality of the picturesque villages. Sometimes he takes his models Anita, Ginette or Dédée with him.
If, thanks to the wild coastline, it is Belle-Ile that entices him more than any other place to paint, Concarneau and Bénodet are the ports to which he regularly returns.
Jean Puy, independent by nature, chooses places less frequented by other painters. In Belle-Ile, for example, he slips inside the Apothicairière cave, and in Concarneau he paints in the Ville-Close, a secluded and lonely place ideal for his intimist painting. Unlike most of his Fauves friends, who were in love with the light of the Mediterranean, Puy preferred "the diffuse light of the Ocean," enthusing about the nuances of the Breton atmosphere. He himself recounts, "I went a few times to the Midi, in winter, but I never found there the rhythm I loved in Brittany: moderate countries with very modulated colors, few yellows or oranges, and, in addition to many fine days, a few drizzly days with dim, dreamy light. This is what I like, along with the variety of landscapes and a grand sea, tragic at times, but so bewitching."
In 1901 he exhibited with Marquet and Matisse at the Salon des Indépendants; the following year Manguin joined him and in 1903 Camoin. The years 1902-1903 are for Jean Puy the most violently colored period; indeed, one can speak of a "pre-fauve" style.
At the 1904 Salon, the group is complete, with the addition of Dufy and Friesz.
On the premises of the 1905 Salon d'Automne, which saw the birth of Fauvism, these artists exhibited together again and counted the presence of two new artists: Vlaminck and Derain.
In the winter of 1904-1905 Puy had worked extensively with Matisse in Manguin's atelier, and it was through them that he met the art dealer Ambroise Vollard, who from 1905 to 1922 bought much of his production. Vollard, between 1905 and 1910, also convinced him to decorate a hundred ceramics made by André Metthey and initiated him in the technique of engraving. In 1919 she entrusted him with the illustration of Père Ubu à la guerre, in 1924 Le pot de fleurs de la mère Ubu and Le Dèjeuner de l'Evêque.
His painting greatly pleased the great art critics Apollinaire, Duret, Arsène Alexandre, and Tristan Klingsor who praised and supported him with their writings.
In 1910 Apollinaire states, "Puy is in great progress. His landscapes with the sea are as transparent as the finest days, and his naked woman with thick hair has the slenderness and boldness of a Venetian courtesan who would have loved Casanova...."
During the call to arms in 1915-16 Puy met Villon, Dunoyer, and Segonzac. The artist always alternated between studio work and painting "en plein air."
Although he was a Fauve painter (albeit for only a few years, c. 1905-1908), he is distinguished from them by good taste and discretion. His works are in fact a compromise between Impressionism and Fauvism. Puy can be considered an independent artist, having not associated himself with other movements.
In 1920 he met the Carrions, a couple who owned a splendid house in Belle-Ile; he was often invited to spend long periods there, so much so that one of their rooms was used as an atelier.
Between 1912 and 1938 he regularly participated in group exhibitions at Galerie Druet and from 1907 to 1927 at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune. Nine of his works appear in the Exhibition of the Masters of Independent Art at the Petit Palais in Paris at the 1937 International Exhibition.
In the interwar period he lived in Paris and, around 1939, fearing the bombing of the capital, retired to his hometown.
In 1939 he decorated the Hall of Honor of the Lyceum "du Parc" in Lyon with the fresco The Meeting of Ulysses and Nausicaa.
After returning to Roanne, he voluntarily reduces the promotion of his work nationally and exhibitions in Paris to devote himself more to the cultural life of his region, of which he becomes an important figure. The evolution of Puy's painting is marked by the historical events that mark his life. The world wars are for him two irreparable ruptures that upset his worldview. It is perhaps for these reasons that, after the eagerness and exuberance of the Fauve years, he evolves toward an intimist, more sober and measured painting.
After his death, many of his works are in demand for important exhibitions and numerous anthological exhibitions are dedicated to him. Among the most recent are: Geneva, Petit Palais " Jean Puy, le maitre de Roanne " (1994); Morlaix, Musée des Jacobins " Un fauve en Bretagne, Jean Puy " (1995) ; Roanne, Musée Joseph Déchelette " Jean Puy, l'après midi d'un fauve " (2001).
Museums where his works are kept:
Albi (Musée Toulouse-Lautrec); Bagnols-sur-Céze (Musée Léon Alègre); Besançon (Musée des Beaux Arts); Bourg-en-Bresse; Cateau-Cambresis (Musée Matisse); Grenoble (Musée des Beaux Arts); Lyon (Musée des Beaux Arts); Montbélliard (Musée du Château); Montpellier; Mulhouse; Nantes; Paris (Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville, Musée du Petit Palais); Poitiers; Reims (Musée Saint Denis); Roanne (Musée J. Déchelette); Rouen (Musée des Beaux Arts); Saint Etienne (Musée d'Art et d'Industrie); Saint-Quentin; Saint-Tropez (Musée de l'Annonciade); Troyes (Musée d'Art Moderne); Winterthur, Germany; Algiers, Algeria; Geneva (Mod. Art Foundation O. Ghez, Musée du Petit Palais), Zurich-Switzerland ; Moscow, Soviet Union.
Bibliography:
Jean Puy, Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre peint, Roanne, Les amis de Jean Puy Editeur, 2001; Catalogue sommaire illustré des peintures, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Ed. Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1990; H. Belbeoch, F. Clifford, Belle-Ile en art, Henri Belbeoch, 1991; H. Belbeoch, Les peintres de Concarneau, Quimper, Editions Palatines, 1993; G. Schurr, P. Cabanne, Dictionnaire des Petits Maitres de la peinture, 1820-1920, Paris, Les editions de l’amateur, 1996; La Collection Ambroise Vollard du Musée Léon-Dierx, Parigi, Editions d’Art Somogy, 1999; Jean Puy (1876-1960), Roanne, Les Amis de Jean Puy Editeur, 2000; Les années fauves, 1904-1908, Paris, Somogy Editions d’art, 2000; Da Renoir a Picasso, un secolo d’arte al Petit Palais di Ginevra, a cura di Paola Gribaudo, Milano, Electa, 2001; Da Caillebotte a Picasso, I capolavori della collezione Oscar Ghez dal Museo del Petit Palais di Ginevra a cura di L. Caramel, N. Sainte Fare Garnot, G. Gentry, Milano, Mazzotta, 2003
© Jean Puy, by SIAE 2023
Since his discovery of the Breton localities Pouldu, Bénodet, and St-Guénolé in 1899, Puy feels a very strong attachment to these lands and decides to spend much of the beautiful season between Roanne and northwestern France. He returned to Paris only in winter, where he painted in the atelier. His enthusiasm for Brittany is linked above all to his passion for the sea. He buys a boat and, with the help of his friend Paul Signac learns to sail. From port to port he travels the entire coast and, painting from the boat, he is better able to capture the vitality of the picturesque villages. Sometimes he takes his models Anita, Ginette or Dédée with him.
If, thanks to the wild coastline, it is Belle-Ile that entices him more than any other place to paint, Concarneau and Bénodet are the ports to which he regularly returns.
Jean Puy, independent by nature, chooses places less frequented by other painters. In Belle-Ile, for example, he slips inside the Apothicairière cave, and in Concarneau he paints in the Ville-Close, a secluded and lonely place ideal for his intimist painting. Unlike most of his Fauves friends, who were in love with the light of the Mediterranean, Puy preferred "the diffuse light of the Ocean," enthusing about the nuances of the Breton atmosphere. He himself recounts, "I went a few times to the Midi, in winter, but I never found there the rhythm I loved in Brittany: moderate countries with very modulated colors, few yellows or oranges, and, in addition to many fine days, a few drizzly days with dim, dreamy light. This is what I like, along with the variety of landscapes and a grand sea, tragic at times, but so bewitching."
In 1901 he exhibited with Marquet and Matisse at the Salon des Indépendants; the following year Manguin joined him and in 1903 Camoin. The years 1902-1903 are for Jean Puy the most violently colored period; indeed, one can speak of a "pre-fauve" style.
At the 1904 Salon, the group is complete, with the addition of Dufy and Friesz.
On the premises of the 1905 Salon d'Automne, which saw the birth of Fauvism, these artists exhibited together again and counted the presence of two new artists: Vlaminck and Derain.
In the winter of 1904-1905 Puy had worked extensively with Matisse in Manguin's atelier, and it was through them that he met the art dealer Ambroise Vollard, who from 1905 to 1922 bought much of his production. Vollard, between 1905 and 1910, also convinced him to decorate a hundred ceramics made by André Metthey and initiated him in the technique of engraving. In 1919 she entrusted him with the illustration of Père Ubu à la guerre, in 1924 Le pot de fleurs de la mère Ubu and Le Dèjeuner de l'Evêque.
His painting greatly pleased the great art critics Apollinaire, Duret, Arsène Alexandre, and Tristan Klingsor who praised and supported him with their writings.
In 1910 Apollinaire states, "Puy is in great progress. His landscapes with the sea are as transparent as the finest days, and his naked woman with thick hair has the slenderness and boldness of a Venetian courtesan who would have loved Casanova...."
During the call to arms in 1915-16 Puy met Villon, Dunoyer, and Segonzac. The artist always alternated between studio work and painting "en plein air."
Although he was a Fauve painter (albeit for only a few years, c. 1905-1908), he is distinguished from them by good taste and discretion. His works are in fact a compromise between Impressionism and Fauvism. Puy can be considered an independent artist, having not associated himself with other movements.
In 1920 he met the Carrions, a couple who owned a splendid house in Belle-Ile; he was often invited to spend long periods there, so much so that one of their rooms was used as an atelier.
Between 1912 and 1938 he regularly participated in group exhibitions at Galerie Druet and from 1907 to 1927 at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune. Nine of his works appear in the Exhibition of the Masters of Independent Art at the Petit Palais in Paris at the 1937 International Exhibition.
In the interwar period he lived in Paris and, around 1939, fearing the bombing of the capital, retired to his hometown.
In 1939 he decorated the Hall of Honor of the Lyceum "du Parc" in Lyon with the fresco The Meeting of Ulysses and Nausicaa.
After returning to Roanne, he voluntarily reduces the promotion of his work nationally and exhibitions in Paris to devote himself more to the cultural life of his region, of which he becomes an important figure. The evolution of Puy's painting is marked by the historical events that mark his life. The world wars are for him two irreparable ruptures that upset his worldview. It is perhaps for these reasons that, after the eagerness and exuberance of the Fauve years, he evolves toward an intimist, more sober and measured painting.
After his death, many of his works are in demand for important exhibitions and numerous anthological exhibitions are dedicated to him. Among the most recent are: Geneva, Petit Palais " Jean Puy, le maitre de Roanne " (1994); Morlaix, Musée des Jacobins " Un fauve en Bretagne, Jean Puy " (1995) ; Roanne, Musée Joseph Déchelette " Jean Puy, l'après midi d'un fauve " (2001).
Museums where his works are kept:
Albi (Musée Toulouse-Lautrec); Bagnols-sur-Céze (Musée Léon Alègre); Besançon (Musée des Beaux Arts); Bourg-en-Bresse; Cateau-Cambresis (Musée Matisse); Grenoble (Musée des Beaux Arts); Lyon (Musée des Beaux Arts); Montbélliard (Musée du Château); Montpellier; Mulhouse; Nantes; Paris (Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville, Musée du Petit Palais); Poitiers; Reims (Musée Saint Denis); Roanne (Musée J. Déchelette); Rouen (Musée des Beaux Arts); Saint Etienne (Musée d'Art et d'Industrie); Saint-Quentin; Saint-Tropez (Musée de l'Annonciade); Troyes (Musée d'Art Moderne); Winterthur, Germany; Algiers, Algeria; Geneva (Mod. Art Foundation O. Ghez, Musée du Petit Palais), Zurich-Switzerland ; Moscow, Soviet Union.
Bibliography:
Jean Puy, Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre peint, Roanne, Les amis de Jean Puy Editeur, 2001; Catalogue sommaire illustré des peintures, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Ed. Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1990; H. Belbeoch, F. Clifford, Belle-Ile en art, Henri Belbeoch, 1991; H. Belbeoch, Les peintres de Concarneau, Quimper, Editions Palatines, 1993; G. Schurr, P. Cabanne, Dictionnaire des Petits Maitres de la peinture, 1820-1920, Paris, Les editions de l’amateur, 1996; La Collection Ambroise Vollard du Musée Léon-Dierx, Parigi, Editions d’Art Somogy, 1999; Jean Puy (1876-1960), Roanne, Les Amis de Jean Puy Editeur, 2000; Les années fauves, 1904-1908, Paris, Somogy Editions d’art, 2000; Da Renoir a Picasso, un secolo d’arte al Petit Palais di Ginevra, a cura di Paola Gribaudo, Milano, Electa, 2001; Da Caillebotte a Picasso, I capolavori della collezione Oscar Ghez dal Museo del Petit Palais di Ginevra a cura di L. Caramel, N. Sainte Fare Garnot, G. Gentry, Milano, Mazzotta, 2003
© Jean Puy, by SIAE 2023
