Attributed to Eugene Leroy, it does not have a COA. Nice art piece with thick impasto, oil canvas. 44.5 x 22 inches. Provenance: private owner.

Biography: Eugène Leroy spent most of his career in rural isolation and relative obscurity until the 1980s, when figurative painting came back into vogue and his distinctive if somewhat conservative painting style became increasingly recognized both in his native France and overseas. Working for months and sometimes years on canvases whose paint surfaces are so obsessively thick that their images -mostly nudes, heads and still lifes- are virtually obliterated.It is apparent that Leroy is not concerned with the ideological separation of figuration and abstraction. His motives are neither resolved by absolute unrepresentationalism nor are they specifically recognizable. The painted is only a resonance of the extra-pictorial. But precisely because of this, these works perhaps move closer to reality than Leroy's early tangible works.His nudes, portraits, landscapes or the man on the cross do not stand isolated for him, but are directly connected in their surroundings. For example the body contours of the women who actually stand before him while he is working are virtually embodied on the canvas. At the same time a diaphanous membrane appears as the separation between figure and the surrounding space. Human skin seems to lose its function as protection, the softness and vulnerability of the human body therefore finds its equivalent.

All authorship of items in this catalog are described according to the following terms:

Signed [Artist Name] : In cases in which the signature is legible in the lot, this work is described as-is with no attributions given.

By [Artist Name] : The work is by the artist.

Attributed to [Artist Name] : The work may be ascribed to the artist on the basis of style, but there may be some question as to actual authorship.

In the manner of [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

Circle of [Artist Name] : A work of the period of the artist showing his influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily his pupil.

Follower of [Artist Name]: A work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

American, 19th century: This work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).

Mint