Tunis par L.Mainssieux (1885-1958)

An oil on canvas measuring 65X54 cm (without the frame) representing Tunis in 1921 signed by Lucien Mainssieux (1885-1958)
Lucien Mainssieux is a painter and French artist, born on August 4, 1885 and died on July 8, 1958 in Voiron, a small town near Grenoble. Orphaned at the age of 19 months, he has tuberculosis of the pelvic bones (or coxalgia). He spent his first twelve years bedridden and limped all his life. In Grenoble, François Joseph Girot is his first master and Jules Flandrin his first significant influence. He arrived in Paris in 1905, the year of the scandal of the fauve painters to work with Jean-Paul Laurens. At the Julian Academy, he meets Dunoyer de Segonzac, who will be a faithful friend. In Paris, he frequents Max Weber, meeting thanks to him Picasso but also frequent Matisse, Marquet, Jacqueline Marval and Rouault. It is not one of the movements of the time, in particular not cubism. His only absolute model is Cézanne. Mainssieux undertakes numerous trips during his life, especially throughout France. Even though he lives in Paris, he returns to Voiron in the summer, where he can paint landscapes with greater ease. His first trip out of France is in Rome in 1910. It is a revelation for him: the ancient monuments with rosy stones, the perfect architecture and the sculpture fascinate him. When he sees the Palatine Hill, he decides to paint it, amazed by the beauty of the landscape. This mountain first appeared to him as "the sun slowly descended to the horizon, the palaces of the city and the distant hills were in a golden mist." He exhibited in 1913 the painting of this scene, The Palatine Hill, at the Salon d'Automne in Paris. It is noticed by critics and the general public thanks to its style. He returned five more times to Rome between 1911 and 1926. In 1921, after obtaining a scholarship for Africa, Mainssieux left for Tunisia. His discovery of the Muslim world amazes him and he begins to paint marabouts, palm groves, sands and oases. He will return to this country many times. He visited Morocco four times from 1929, and then wrote a book, Le Maroc secret, illustrated with drawings but never published. His last trip was again for Morocco in 1958, in Agadir. Between 1942 and 1954, Mainssieux undertook four trips to Algeria, Tipaza. The last twelve years of his life, Mainssieux passed them between Voiron, Paris and Tipaza. All these journeys influenced his life, from his way of painting to his private life, since it was during these journeys that he met his wife. These trips give him the inspiration to paint paintings that will make him notice the public. The representation and the pictorial techniques alternate throughout the career of Lucien Mainssieux. These changes are largely due to his travels. The painter uses mainly four techniques: oil painting, watercolor, engraving and drawing in ink or charcoal. He likes to leave the traces of his sketch in pencil and Indian ink, even when the drawing is finished, he also spreads colored masses on his sheet and then delimits with light strokes of pencil or pen. "His watercolors are as clear and clear as his vision of things. His writing is cursive, even incisive and recalls in many features that of Matisse and Segonzac "(Bruno Jay). Engraver, it illustrates among others A summer in the Sahara of Eugene Fromentin, Memories of a tourist of Stendhal and Amyntas of André Gide. At the beginning of his career, his paintings were inspired by Fauvism: they are clearer than the works of the nineteenth century, the touch is thick, he uses a lot of solidities that he will end up abandoning in the 1930s. Practically no colors; The contrast is very present in his works, especially to highlight the portraits. He uses the brush and the knife to make his paintings. In 1920, after the visit of Renoir's studio, his painting will change and its colors will still clear up. When he left for North Africa after first experiments in Rome in the 1910s, his paintings became oriented. It represents daily scenes (dance, market ...) but also portraits and landscapes in bright colors. The key is trimmed and undulates. He wrote: "As for color, I pushed it to the point of absolute simplification. I perceived, however, that a tone, to be simple, should, like nature, be decomposed and marbled with infinite modulations. " Throughout his life, Mainssieux never kept the same way of painting: he changed his style according to the place where he painted. Indeed, if he is in Italy, his paintings will be more classical, with pale colors, while in Africa, he favors the everyday scenes in bright colors. He is also influenced by some painters. Corot especially holds a large