Francis Montanier (1895-1974) - Tournesol gris

Francis Montanier (1895-1974). Grey sunflower. Interesting artwork from the circle of Picasso and Georges Braque. Signed and dated (19)49. Oil on panel. Size including frame 66x51 centimeters. The painting (and the later frame) are in exceptionally good condition. With handwritten title, exhibition label and stamp on the back.

Original oil painting by the French artist Francis Montanier (1895–1974), signed and dated 1949 lower right. It concerns a modern depiction of a sunflower with beautiful bright colors. This work fits well within the modern post-war painting movement to which Picasso and Georges Braque also belonged.

This work shows Montanier's characteristic formal language, in which figurative elements are reduced to a powerful, almost abstract composition. The stylized profile, the organic shapes and the expressive color fields with a bright yellow background align with his development toward a modernist visual language after World War II. His work shows influences of Cubism and the École de Paris.

Francis Montanier studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon and later in Paris. He gained early recognition with distinctions at the Salon des Artistes Français and exhibited internationally. His work is in museum and private collections and is regularly offered at international art auctions. Montanier was friends with and worked with the famous contemporaries André Derain and Braque.