Henri Pailler (1876-1954) - Snow at Triel sur Seine Yvelines

Henri PAILLER
(Poitiers 1876 - Triel-sur-Seine 1954)
Snow in Triel sur Seine
Oil on canvas
H. 54 cm ; L. 73 cm 
Signed lower left

Provenance : Private collection, Vienne

Born in Poitiers in the Vienne region, Henri Pailler showed serious aptitude for drawing. Noticed by Edmond Petitjean, the young man was sent to Paris to complete his training at the Beaux-Arts under the great Léon Bonnat. At first accustomed to a very academic style and palette, the young painter quickly turned away from this classical art that he did not like. At the beginning of the century, he moved towards impressionism, which he developed within the Crozant school thanks to his meeting with Armand Guillaumin who took him to paint on the spot in 1901.

Residing in Poitiers until the dawn of the great conflict of 1914, Pailler sent numerous landscapes of the Creuse region to the Salon where the vivacity of the colors was increasingly felt. It is precisely following his meeting with Dufy and Marquet that a fauvist side appears in his compositions, but after a few years he instinctively returns to his love for impressionism by keeping a generosity of colors on his palette.

Upon his return from the war, Henri Pailler joined Roubaix where he was appointed studio teacher at the School of Industrial Arts. When he retired, he settled on the banks of the Seine in Triel-sur-Seine, where he painted many views with the talent and colors so much appreciated by this painter, who was considered one of the greats of Crozant.

Throughout his career, Pailler travelled throughout France and regularly visited the Périgord region from which he brought back numerous works, mainly from Bourdeilles but also from Brantôme.

In the 1920s, the painter presented views of Triel-sur-Seine in the Yvelines in various salons. This town, whose church with its distinctive silhouette, was the playground for Pailler's easel until his death. Our painting, certainly done in the 1920s, is a striking winter image of the town, sunny, as Henri Pailler was able to depict the Sédelle in Crozant.