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a painting of a river with a house and trees in the backgroundan image of a painting of a window with graffiti on it
AGUTTES

138 - ANDRÉ-LÉON VIVREL (1886–1976)
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Estimate €400 - €600
Sale commission
Description
ANDRÉ-LÉON VIVREL (1886–1976) Metal footbridge over the Briare Canal, Loiret, 192{?] Oil on canvas Signed lower right Dated ‘192[?]’ on the reverse Titled on the stretcher 46 x 55 cm - 18 1/8 x 21 5/8 in. Oil on canvas, signed lower right, dated ‘192[?]’ on the reverse, titled on the stretcher Provenance - Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Paris - Private collection, France Note André-Léon Vivrel was born in 1886 in Paris. At the age of just 15, he decided to become a painter. He was supported in this endeavour by his mother, whom he described as his first teacher, and his father, a wine merchant and winner of the First Prize for Drawing in 1870. A pupil at the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, Vivrel enrolled at the Académie Julian in 1910. There he studied under Paul Albert Laurens, the eldest son of Jean-Paul Laurens, before attending the studios of Marcel Baschet and Henri Royer at the École des Beaux-Arts. He rented a studio in Montmartre, at 65 Rue Caulaincourt, just eight doors down from that of Auguste Renoir, the painter he admired above all others. His first entry in the Salon des Artistes Français was in 1913. Called up in 1914, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre for ‘heroic conduct’ in 1917. After the war, he returned to his Montmartre studio. He was awarded an honourable mention at the 1920 Salon, and the State purchased the two still lifes (location unknown) that he exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants. He also exhibited two portraits of a Breton woman there, painted on his return from a stay in Ploumanac’h (Côtes d’Armor). The Galerie Lorenceau (Paris) organised a solo exhibition of his work in 1920. In 1922, Vivrel appeared for the first time at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. After receiving the Deldebat de Gonzalva Prize in 1932, he was awarded a silver medal the following year at the Salon des Artistes Français for *Le Temps des cerises*. In 1934, Vivrel exhibited *Bathers*, the first painting in a series of large-scale nudes submitted to the Salon until 1943. The culmination of his exploration of the female nude, his *Baigneuses* of 1939 were awarded a gold medal at the Salon des Artistes Français. This final accolade followed a silver medal won by Vivrel in 1937 at the International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques in Paris. Critics unanimously praised his talent and, in 1940, Louis Paillard did not hesitate to write on the front page of *Le Petit Journal* on 6 May 1940: ‘André Vivrel, I proclaim, stands out as one of the finest at this *Salon des Artistes Français*’. The exhibition ‘Vivrel – Recent Paintings’, organised by the Galerie de Berri in May 1942, showcased, through 31 paintings, the diversity of genres explored by Vivrel, though it was landscape painting that he pursued with the greatest passion. His favourite region was the Loiret, where his elder brother Marcel owned a holiday home in Châtillon-sur-Loire, not far from Champtoceaux. In the aftermath of the Great War, having fallen on hard times, he took refuge there to paint en plein air at minimal cost. In the spring of 1926, Vivrel was back in Brittany, from where he brought back *Le Port de Camaret*, which was exhibited at the 1926 Salon des Tuileries. A few years later, in 1934, he returned to the Côtes d’Armor, where he painted seascapes that were, in essence, studies of the sky. Vivrel spent the summer of 1926 in Corsica. There he produced watercolours which were exhibited, from that autumn onwards, at the Galerie Georges Petit and then in New York. On each occasion, critics were unanimous in praising their qualities: ‘André Vivrel’s exhibition is that of a sensitive, refined artist, whilst remaining broad in his approach. His views of Corsica, Brittany and Paris are like his delicately harmonious flowers” (La Semaine à Paris, 12 November 1926, p. 63). In 1928, he returned to the South of France. Capturing the warm, vibrant light of Provence, he painted *The Harbour of Saint-Tropez*, which was exhibited that same year at the Salon des Indépendants. The theme of the Mediterranean also featured prominently at the Salon des Tuileries, where Vivrel presented harbour scenes and ocean liners, reflecting a flourishing tourism industry.
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About the sale Impressionist & Modern Art – The Patrick Picard Collection and various private collectors
Auction location
Auction time 10/01/2026 at 2:30 PM
Lot description modified on 09/21/2026 at 1:21 PM
Pictures credits:
©Aguttes
See original version (French)
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