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Abel Lauvray (1870 - 1950)
Painter of light
Influenced by Monet...
Born into a wealthy family of lawyers, Abel Lauvray was destined to succeed his father. But after meeting Claude Monet (1840-1926) in his youth he chose to become a painter. When Claude Monet got to know the Lauvray family, he was going through a dark period in his life: his wife, Camille Doncieux, had died, he was not selling much and he had to provide for his two sons. The Lauvrays supported him financially and commissioned a portrait of their youngest son André. After living in Vetheuil and then Giverny, Claude Monet returned to paint a series of 70 works around Vetheuil. This was when he introduced Abel to painting and took him along to his boat workshop.
... he became a post-impressionist painter
After studying law in Paris, Abel enrolled at the Cormon Academy of painting, spent a short time at the Fine Arts school and began painting by himself, following the advice of Monet. He tried several genres, but had a preference for landscapes, which he painted on the banks of the Seine from Vetheuil to Mantes.
Financially independent, he spent his life between Vetheuil, Touraine, Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and Mantes, where he owned a large villa, in which he set up his studio. His landscapes are deep studies of light, skies and water. At the end of his life, he was drawn to expressionism and abstract art.
