ArtistMazot, Louis

Artist Years1919-1994

Artist NationalityFrench

TitleLe Canal St. Martin a Paris

Yearca. 1970

MediumPainting > Oil

DimensionsCanvas: 20 X 24.5 inches

Accession NumberRC1449

NotesLouis Mazot was born on April 26, 1919 in Montpellier. He studied at the Beaux-Arts in Montpellier under the direction of Camille Descossy. He studied painting, but is graphic talents led him to humorous cartoons at Midi-Libre under the pseudonym Tony Tolis, then under his own name at his arrival in Paris making humorous cartoon for Le Rire. He became friends with the filmmakers Jean-Charles Tacchella and Henri Colpi and founded with them, in 1948, the magazine Ciné-Digest for which he was the artistic director. With the Swiss Sylvia Meyer, whom he married in 1950, they began creating furniture and textile designs which they developed in their store on rue de Verneuil - the Ateliers Mazot-Meyer. Together, they also created window displays for major brands. In 1955, Louis Mazot decided to devote himself exclusively to painting - he painted continuously until his death in 1994.

In 1955 Louis Mazot exhibited for the first time at the Saint-Placide gallery where he was selected several times for the Critics' Prize. His work is noted for his landscapes and still lifes with a palette of warm colors and often shrouded in a mist – a sort of sfumato. In the 70s, his intimate compositions were distinguished by subjects with blurred contours and discreet, muted tones. Louis Mazot is today considered one of the important representatives of poetic realism. His works are mainly found in private collections, in France, Switzerland, Great Britain, the United States, and Japan.

Mazot died in Paris on January 3, 1994.
(source: wikipedia.org)