Pierre de Belay (1890 - 1947)

Born in Quimper, De Belay was a child prodigy. At the age of twelve, the notables of his native town asked him to paint their portraits, and at fifteen he joined his compatriot Max Jacob in Paris. Thanks to him, he mingled with the bohemian crowd of the Butte and the Bateau Lavoir, drawing his friends with an alert and precise pencil: Picasso, Apollinaire, Salmon... These kinds of "reports" on life constitute the most lively part of his work, which develops in series: scenes of the circus, of Parisian life in the 1920s and 1930s, of judges and courts...

It was in the free colour of the fauves that he adopted his style from the 1920s onwards. He never forgot his native land, as evidenced by the many paintings he left us of Breton farmer and maritime life. This painter, who was recognised during his lifetime, regularly exhibited at the Salons d'Automne, the Indépendants, the Tuileries, in the provinces and abroad. Many museums have his works.