Description 18″ x 22″ French Contemporary artist, Andre Lengrand. buyer pays for shipping. Andre Lengrand (1900-1984) painted the famous streets of Paris with a flair and affection that only a native born Frenchmen can achieve. There is just a hint of Utrillo in his style that enriches his own painting technique and enhances the glamour and romance of this famous old city. (written by Donald Bonnist). https://andre-lengrand.com Visit the website of Andre’s grandson, Jean-Michel, an artist in his own right. Jean-Michel’s detailed whimsical style will have you seeing new things the longer you look. https://jmlengrandstudio-ny.com/en/ Personal photos and the following were submitted by Andre’s grandson, Jean-Michel Lengrand, for which we are grateful. The following was from an article in 1982. Re-edited in 2021 to remember André (and somewhat edited by Vivien Bonnist Cord for this post). André Lengrand, was a fourmisian painter (important city in northern France). He donated The Medici Fountain, one of his major works, to his hometown. When Lengrand returned to Fourmies from Paris where he devoted himself to painting while working in the publishing industry, he first became a typographer at Fourmies’ Newspaper before becoming its director from 1926 to 1936. In 1936 the owner of “Les Grandes Filatures du Nord” closed the company where he was director. He was immediately re-employed as director for a printing company until 1940. He painted on canvas. His technique was to prepare his background with a juice: a base of burnt umber diluted with turpentine and stamped on the canvas. Then he drew with a very precise drawing like an architect’s drawing. The different brushes he used were of the Raphael label. He began by painting the sky with a palette knife. He continued through the buildings, then the trees. He also worked with a brush. For the branches and fine lines, he used a brush with long-haired n°8802 n° 6 from Raphael (nicknamed slowpoke). His thinner was turpentine as base. In rework, retouching he worked with the turpentine mixture 1 drop of linseed oil. His varnish was Rembrandt varnish from Talens in spray. When he produced large formats, he often prepared his canvas with a Lefranc impasto medium, mixed with river sand which allowed him to obtain random reliefs. This mixture was applied with a palette knife and a broad brush leaving strong imprints. He never spoke to me (Jean-Michel) about having had a teacher. However, he told me: “Ah it was Utrillo who did like that” Or Chapelain-Midy was capable of painting a 60 figure format in 24 hours, without stopping”… He had known many colleagues and learned with them. In the field of painting, he was a self-made man.
