Lucien Simon (1861 - 1945)

A student of Tony Robert-Fleury at the Académie Julian, then of Ménard and Prinet, he made his debut at the Salon of 1885 with academic canvases that reflected his interest in genre scenes, then in portraits of interiors. The discovery of Brittany opened up a new path for him; he painted everyday subjects with vivacity, in a fat but solid material.

He travelled to Holland and Spain, but remained faithful to Brittany. He enriched his art with shimmering colours and adopted a sketching style that gave his subjects spontaneity and freshness. Very famous in his time, he participated in numerous salons in Berlin, Munich, Vienna, London, and exhibited in Paris at the famous Berheim Jeune gallery and also at Charpentier. A professor at the École de Beaux-Arts in Paris, his studio is considered modern and very popular.

Many museums own his works: the Musée National d'Art Moderne, the Musée de la Ville de Paris, the Musée du Petit Palais, the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée de Lyon, Nantes, Colmar, Rouen, Quimper, and abroad in Stockholm, Moscow, Helsinki, Chicago, Pittsburg, Dresden, Venice and Budapest.