Desnoyer Francois

He became involved with painting at the urging of Bourdelle. He commenced his studies at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Cecoratifs in his birthplace, studies that were interrupted by this military service for the duration of World War I and which were then continued in 1919. In 1936 he was appointed professor at the Ecole des Artes Decoratifs. From 1945 on he lived in town of Sete in the south of France. He painted harbors, folk festivals, and landscapes from the south of France. In 1949 he was proclaimed official painter to the French Navy.

His exhibition activity began in 1922 and from that time on he regularly exhibited at the Salon des Independants, the Salon d’Automne and the Salon des Artistes du Epoque, with the group of Gromaire-Lipschitz. He also participated in many foreign exhibitions. In 1950 French museums dedicated a touring exhibition to him. He received many honorary distinctions for his work.

He had much in common with Gromaire and other French artists whose work is characterized by a particularly powerful dramatic flare and intensity, which imbue the work with an expressionistic character.

He was also involved with se design, the decoration of public buildings, book illustration and lithography. He was an important art collector and his collection was bequeathed to the French state.