Léopold Reigner (1897-1981) - Escena erótica

The work is signed at the bottom and bears the atelier seal on the back.

The work is presented framed (the glass is not present).

Piece measurements: 26 cm high x 20 cm wide

Frame measurements: 42 cm high x 36 cm wide

The conservation state of the work is good

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BIOGRAPHIE DE L'ARTISTE :

Léopold Reigner was born in Niort in 1897. He is the fifth of seven children from a modest social class. In 1920, he truly begins his career as an artist in France; he brings back numerous canvases with constructive qualities and energetic tonalities. For ten years, he is described as the “painter of walls,” painting streets and houses.

In 1929-1930, Parisian consecration of the artist with numerous exhibitions and works acquired by various French and foreign contemporary art museums. Léopold Reigner benefits from good critical reception.

While the artistic effervescence of 1930s Paris is at its peak, Léopold decides to move to Martinique in 1935. In order not to paralyze his creative gesture and to escape the pressure of success, he sets off toward new horizons and arrives in 1936 in Trinidad (English West Indies). An incorrigible traveler, Léopold Reigner is above all a pursuer of mood, aesthetic emotions, and colors for his palette. Thus, he goes to Venezuela in 1937.

Then, Léopold Reigner goes to Colombia in 1938. An article notes that “Bogotá will have the opportunity to know one of the great French artists.” His exhibitions are highly appreciated.

The artist is perceived as “the authentic representative of the French tradition, of that tradition which performs the perpetual miracle of renewing its methods without ever losing the spirit of measure and adherence to what is real… From the Paramos (high Andean plateaus) to the Llanos (savanna regions), all the faces of the multiple Colombian nature are reborn bathed in contained and deeply sincere emotion” (Excerpts from an art review written by Luis V. Ghisletti). From 1938 to 1945, Léopold Reigner travels a lot. He exhibits in Bogotá his paintings that reflect the atmosphere of the Colombian land, its customs, and its regional themes, adapted to Bogotá’s public taste.

From 1946 to 1956, the artist pursues multiple trends, constantly seeking new forms of expression, looking for colors and particular techniques. He enjoys great renown in Bogotá. His production oscillates between figurative writing and abstract composition. Regarding chromatic matter, Léopold Reigner managed to fill every space, establish every boundary with a color palette that remained personal to him despite some Fauvist influences. The painter delights us with his warm tones, yellows that flare into flame, evanescent lines or figures crowned with gold or orange-reds, soothing greens that come to life as they rise toward yellow, blues almost always stripped of their primitive coldness.

In 1958, Léopold returns to France and ends his exotic conception of form and color. In withdrawal, he turns to abstract production. He passed away in Niort in 1981 at the age of 83.