(JB13) Pierre DUMONT

(Paris 1884-1936)

Notre Dame, Paris

ERROR MSGOil on canvas

23 3/4" x 28 3/4" framed

LR: Dumont

    A prolific and passionate painter of the Expressionist school, no subject matter escaped Dumont's attention. He successfully tried his hand at landscapes, cityscapes, marine scenes, still lifes, and floral paintings.

    Born into a middle class family in Rouen, Dumont's decision to become a painter was little appreciated by his family. However, at the young age of 25, he participated in his first exhibition with the noted gallery owner Legrip; enthusiastic promoter of the progressive painters of Rouen.

    In Rouen, Dumont founded the Groupe des XXX, forerunner to the Socit Normande des Peinture Moderne. Members included such distinguished artists as Joseph Delattre, Jacques Villon, and Marcel Duchamp.

    Rouen is valued for his unique and distinctive style. He covered his canvases in violent colors and heavy impasto, seeming almost to sculpt, rather than paint, his vision. His famous views of the cathedrals of Rouen were painted with such an extraordinarily rich brush stroke that one critic observed, "No one, not even Monet, has ever had the audacity to represent them in such a way!"

    In 1914, Dumnont had his first solo exhibition in Paris. Two years later, the Rouen Museum also organized a one-man show of Dumont's work, and Dumont was for ever after recognized and appreciated. Thereafter, regular retrospectives of his uvre took place throughout France.

    Dumont is one of the foremost and most influential painters of his time. His most important works are marked by the influence of Van Gogh and Czanne. It was in 1910 that he began painting the cathedral in Rouen, which became one of the major themes of his lifetime body of work. Between 1914 and 1919, he focused his attention on painting the streets of Montmartre, the Notre Dame cathedral, the bridges of Paris, and banks of the Seine.