Adrien BAS (1884 - 1926) - Spring on Saône

Adrien Bas, from a silk industry background, was a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon in 1902. He was a student of the painter Pierre Bonnaud (1865-1930). He was also part of the Ziniars group between 1920 and 1924. He exhibited in 1901 at the Société Lyonnaise des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, as well as at the Salon d'Automne Lyonnais from 1909 to 1923. Friend of Henri Focillon, he It was he who brought Adrien Bas's paintings into the collection of the Musée des Bx-Arts, of which he was the director: 12 paintings and many drawings are kept by the museum. He is mainly known for his pastel landscapes of Lyon (and its surroundings). In delicate health, he therefore exchanges his box of colors that is too heavy on his shoulder for a few pastel pencils, and always practices his art “on the motif. » He is very attracted by the changing lights of the banks. He painted the Saône a lot and was particularly successful in rendering the transparency of the water and the mist with long strokes. He avoided the landscapes common to watercolorists and was interested in Villeurbanne, la Mulatière, Fourvière, la Villette. His brushstroke is light but lively. It expresses volumes and silhouettes. Its color stands out from the Lyon pictorial tradition. There is an inspiration from Fauvism. He fills his canvases with broad brush strokes, a touch of a strong, ample and generous line. Adrien Bas ended up destroying many of his works, and preferred the pochades (sketches) to the final work. The artist died at age 41 in 1925 of tuberculosis.