Code: 5001
Dimensions:
A beautiful 20th century French naïf oil on canvas depicting the commune of Semur en Auxois, in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France, by André Demonchy. The artist is featured in Anatole Jakovsky's ''Peintres Naïfs'' which is known as the bible of 20th century French naïf painters.
The work depicts Semur en Auxois under a blanket of snow in winter. It is signed lower left and further inscribed on the reverse.
Artist: André Demonchy (French, 1914-2003)
Title: Semur en Auxois
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 24 x 19.5 inches (61 x 50 cm)
André Demonchy was a true naïf painter of the 20th century. Orphaned by WW1, he spent his childhood and adolescence on various farms in the Yonne district, placed there by Welfare authorities.
After army service, he worked on the railways. But he had suffered too much and never known affection. He was haunted by leaden, snowladen skies.
He started to paint around 1946. Fate smiled on him as an artist fairly quickly, with regular exhibitions between 1949 and 1964, but not to the extent of his being able to give up his work on the railway.
