Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac

André Dunoyer de Segonzac , 1884-1974, French painter and graphic artist. Segonzac was a member of the group known as the section d'or, which stressed geometric aspects in cubism. After 1920 his painting style became more lyrical and naturalistic. His watercolors, lithographs, and etchings include landscapes, dancers, figures, and still lifes, executed with great spontaneity and elegance.

Dunoyer de Segonzac, André (1884–1974). French painter, printmaker, and designer. Early in his career he went through a period of Cubist influence, but after the First World War he became recognized as one of the leading upholders of the naturalistic tradition in a period dominated by anti-naturalistic tendencies. His oil paintings (mainly landscapes, still lifes, and figure compositions) are often sombre in tone and usually executed in thick paint, emphasizing the weight and earthiness of the forms. His watercolours and etchings, however, are more elegant and spontaneous, with a wider range of subject matter, including dancers and boxers. He also did designs for the theatre and ballet. His reputation was at its height in the 1930s; he won first prize at the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh in 1933 and the main painting prize at the Venice Biennale in 1934.

Dunoyer de Segonzac, André (1884–1974). French painter, printmaker, and designer. He studied at various academies in Paris, 1900–7 (interrupted by military service in 1902–3). Early in his career he went through a period of Cubist influence, but after the First World War he became recognized as one of the leading upholders of the naturalistic tradition in a period dominated by anti-naturalistic tendencies (see NÉO-RÉALISME). (During the war he was in charge of a camouflage unit, in which Charles Dufresne, an artist of similar outlook, worked.) Segonzac's oil paintings (mainly landscapes, still-lifes, and figure compositions) are often sombre in tone and usually executed in thick paint, emphasizing the weight and earthiness of the forms. His water-colours and etchings, however, are more elegant and spontaneous, with a wider range of subject-matter, including dancers and boxers. He also did designs for the theatre and ballet.

Segonzac's reputation was at its height in the 1930s; he won first prize at the Carnegie International in 1933 and the main painting prize at the Venice Biennale in 1934. He is now considered a secondary figure, ‘but notable for his serious, impeccable craftsmanship, an example of that famous belle facture which has been one of the constituent elements in French painting for centuries and which enables many minor artists to hold a worthy position beside the more imaginative masters’ ( George Heard Hamilton). There is a museum of his work at his birthplace, Boussy-St-Antoine, near Paris, and he is also well represented in the Musée de l'Île de France at Sceaux.