"Leon Zeytline Russian School 20th Paris Place De La République Boulevard Du Temple Signed Oil"
Leon ZEYTLINE ( 1885 / 1962 )
Republic Square, Temple Boulevard.
Oil on canvas signed at the bottom right.
65 x 100 cm
Leon ZEYTLINE Of Russian origin and in love with Paris, the post-impressionist painter Léon Zeytline brilliantly captured the exhilarating spirit of Paris. He made the City of Light the main subject of his work for many years.The Paris of yesteryear opens up in all its splendor and in every detail, joyful and modern, dynamic and charming, in the paintings of an artist unknown today to the general public, most of his works being kept in private homes. Only the Carnavalet, Hamburg and Mulhouse museums have some paintings by Léon Zeytline.Leon Zeytline was born in France, where his family of Russian origin settled long before the revolution. At the age of 15, the young man began his studies at the Moscow School of painting, sculpture and architecture, family circumstances forced his relatives to return to Russia. Even during his student years, he traveled a lot in Europe. During one of these trips in 1909 (after graduating in 1908), he went back to France, where he decided to settle permanently.Dazzled by the beauty of the French capital, the young painter made Paris the central subject of his work for many years. He devotes more than 500 paintings to it, a veritable encyclopedia that tells with a precision characteristic of the Russian school, and a brightness borrowed from the French Impressionists, the city in all its states.Unlike some of his post-Impressionist contemporaries, Léon Zeytline did not take orders and represented only the Parisian subjects that captivated him, without commercial pretensions. He painted the daily Parisian life as well as the fashionable places of the capital.We find in his works the famous Haussmann boulevards very fashionable, such as the Champs-Elysées or the Avenue de l'Opéra, with their prestigious cafes, the emblematic monuments such as the Eiffel Tower, but also the popular districts with their markets and their shops.All the scenes are animated by characters on a walk or busy with their daily chores. The frills and sophisticated hats of the fashionable elegant women and the dresses of the workers are represented with equal care. By their diversity and their authenticity, the Parisian scenes constitute real historical documents, witnesses of this époque.La architectural description is particularly accurate in the paintings of the artist. On his work representing the Moulin Rouge, we can discover the appearance of this famous cabaret as it appeared before the fire of February 27, 1915, which destroyed much of the Art Nouveau facade of the building.Zeytline takes the time to describe all the architectural decorative elements, the entrance to the halls and the ticket office, the posters of the music hall shows. The vintage photographs of the Moulin Rouge confirm the precision of Zeytline in the representation of the details that will characterize this place until 1915.We also observe many means of transport in these paintings: imperial, American omnibus, Schneider bus, tram, carriage, train, cariole and cart, without forgetting bicycles.Little by little, the horses give way to the Parisian avenues to the automobiles. The subway entrances signed Hector Guimard are also part of the scenes of the life of Parisians immortalized by the painter.Zeytline loves festive Paris, under its air of elegance a bit of rabble. In the scenes depicting Parisian nights and café-concerts as well as in genre scenes, women always occupy a prominent place in Zeytline's work.They charm gentlemen, deploy their seduction unceremoniously for their partners, have fun and grieve, watching the champagne bubbles sparkle in the light of a candlestick. They make us think of the characters of Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Manet or Renoir, but the dresses, makeup and hairstyles remind us of the 1920s.Léon Zeytline managed to make a living from his paintings, which were appreciated for their artistic qualities, but also for having been able to capture the exhilarating spirit of Paris so well