Jean Chaleyé, Undergrowth on the banks of the Loire (circa 1910)

JEAN CHALEYÉ (Saint-Étienne 1878 - Le Puy-en-Velay 1960) Undergrowth on the banks of the Loire. Circa 1910. Oil on canvas laid down on cardboard. 17 x 24 cm. Signed lower right: J Chaleyé. Jean Chaleyé was a leading painter and textile designer in 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 École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, where he joined the renowned "Classe de Fleurs" (Flower Class), established 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 École des Arts Décoratifs and the École des Beaux-Arts, pursuing a dual path as an industrial designer and painter. Toward the end of his time at art school in Paris, he was recruited by the French government to oversee the reform and revitalization of design within 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 at 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 the Haute-Loire region, and he exhibited regularly in Saint-Étienne, Lyon, and Paris. The Musée Crozatier in Le Puy has many of Chaleyé's landscapes and still lifes in its collection. This landscape, painted from life, is undoubtedly that of the Haute-Loire region, between Le Puy and Saint-Étienne, and more likely the Loire River itself. For this beautiful painting, the artist brilliantly employs the techniques of impasto and scraping.