PIERRE EMILE GABRIEL LELONG (Neuilly-sur-Seine,... Lot 24

PIERRE EMILE GABRIEL LELONG (Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1908-Paris, 1984). Untitled. Watercolor on paper. Measurements: 16 x 22 cm; 20,5 x 25,5 cm (frame). Neoimpressionist painter based in France, Pierre Emile Gabriel Lelong was the winner of the Grand Prix des Peintres Témoins de Leur Temps in 1972. He is considered one of the artists of the post-war group called "La Nouvelle Ecole de Paris". He first exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1935, and as part of a group at the Galerie Rotgé. He subsequently destroyed much of his early work, so few paintings from this period remain. In the late 1940s, he produced illustrations for several magazines, including Cavalcade, Paysage, La Pensée Française, Lisez-moi, Champs-Elysées, Paris-Dimanche and Fantasia. Galerie Doucet organized a solo exhibition for Pierre Lelong in 1950. From then on, he exhibited more and more frequently: the Salon d'Automne, the Salon de la Peinture à l'Eau, the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon du Design. His work became increasingly well-known and, in 1956, he was invited to paint a portrait of the composer Jacques Ibert. He was also commissioned to paint frescoes for several institutional clients. He spent most of his summers in the south of France, and created a large body of work depicting boats, beaches, bathers and southern towns. He exhibited at the Salon des Peintres Témoins de Leur Temps in 1963. As abstract art became more popular, he wrote articles defending figurative art, including "Pourquoi je suis figuratif" in Connaissance des Hommes in 1971. He exhibited at the Minet Gallery. In 1974 a retrospective of his work was organized in Nice at the Palais de la Méditerranée.