ARTISTS

Eugène Leroy (1919-2000) was introduced to the Dutch Old Masters Rembrandt and Jordaens as a teenager, and later to El Greco and Goya. From 1931 to 1932 he studied at the École des Beaux‑Arts in Lille and Paris, but he quickly decided that the methods and approaches of the academies did not correspond with his understanding of art. He moved to Roubaix, where he worked as a Latin and Greek teacher. He consistently pursued his painting during this time. In 1936 he saw “The Jewish Bride” by Rembrandt in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum and the abstraction of materiality and the flesh were to fascinate him throughout his life. He had his first exhibition in Lille in 1937. He continued to teach during World War II. His post-war works are characterized by dark colors and have a strong connection to the North Sea. This style of painting was thematically interrupted by a crucifixion scene that he created for a chapel in Roubaix in 1946-48. In 1954 he exhibited with Sam Francis, Serge Poliakoff and Marcel Pouget. His first solo exhibition took place at the Tourcoing Museum in Dunkirk in 1956. Leroy’s move to Wasquehal in 1958 is clearly evident in his œuvre, as there is a noticeable shift in his compositions towards more abstraction. From 1955-70 he exhibited in the May Salon in Paris. Numerous exhibitions followed, and the 1988 retrospective in the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris deserves special mention. In 1992 he took part in the documenta IX in Kassel and in 1995 in the Venice Biennale.
Leroy died 2000 in Wasquehal.

Exhibitions and Distinctions (Selection)

 
2022

Hall Art Fondation, Kunstmuseum Schloss Derneburg, Holle, Germany
 
2021

MUBA, Tourcoing, France

 
2009

Donation of 600 works to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tourcoing

2004

Musée d’Art et d’Industrie, La Piscine, Roubaix

2001

Musée d’Art Moderne,  Villeneuve d’Ascq

2000

Art Association for Rhineland and Westphalia, Dusseldorf.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (NY)

1997

Kunsthalle Basel

1996/97

Retrospective at Centre díArt Contemporain Bignan, Centre díArt Contemporain Rennes and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes

1996

Grand Prix National de la Peinture

1995

45th Venice Biennale

1994

Galerie Daniel Blau, München

1993

Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice

1992

Documenta IX, Kassel

1991

Participation at 21st Sao Paolo Biennale

1987

Musée d’Art Moderne, Villeneuve d’Ascq

1988

Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven

Musée d’Art Moderne de La Ville de Paris

1982

Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Gent

1977

Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Lille

1970

Wiener Sezession, Wien

1960-65

Collaboration with Claude Bernard Gallery, Paris

1957

Prix Emile-Othon Friesz

1956

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tourcoing

Literature (Selection)

Eugène Leroy – Alles ist Farbe, ed. by Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Dusseldorf, 2000

Bernard Marcadé, Eugène Leroy, Paris, 1999

Eugène Leroy – Peintures, ed. by Kunsthalle Basel, 1997

Hector Obalk, Eugène Leroy – Oil Paintings, Tokyo 1991

Eugène Leroy – Bilder und Zeichnungen, ed. by Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich, 1994