Jean Chaleyé, Hilly Landscape with Poplars (circa 1920)

JEAN CHALEYÉ (Saint-Étienne 1878 – Le Puy-en-Velay 1960) Hilly landscape with poplars. Circa 1920. Oil on panel. 38 X 54 cm (panel) 46 X 61.5 cm (frame) Signed bottom left: J Chaleye. Jean Chaleyé was a leading painter and textile designer during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Saint-Étienne, Chaleyé first studied at the School of Industrial Arts in his hometown before winning a scholarship to the School of Fine Arts in Lyon, where he joined the famous "Flower Class," created to train talented flower designers for the silk industry. After three years of study in Lyon, he won the Prix de Paris, allowing him to continue his training in Paris. He then attended the School of Decorative Arts and the School of Fine Arts, following a dual path as an industrial designer and painter. Towards the end of his time at art school in Paris, he was recruited by the State to oversee the reform and revitalisation of design in the French lace industry. He moved to Le Puy-en-Velay, a town with an established but struggling lace industry, located 80 km south of his hometown of Saint-Étienne. For forty years, Chaleyé represented the French lace industry in numerous national and international exhibitions and trade fairs. Throughout this period, he remained dedicated to oil painting, primarily still lifes of flowers and landscapes of Haute Loire, and he regularly exhibited in Saint-Étienne, Lyon, and Paris. The Crozatier Museum in Le Puy has many landscapes and still lifes by Chaleyé in its collection.