The Backgammon Party , circa  1927-1928

Oil on canvas

Signed and titled on the back "The backgammon party" 

Dimensions: 81 x 65 cm

Eugène Paul was born rue Lepic, in the heart of Montmartre. Her mother was an embroiderer and her father a coffee musician. He began to paint at an early age. His apprenticeship is original: as an interior decorator apprentice, he looks around in the rich apartments.

Passionate about painting and eager for knowledge, he observes the works collected by art lovers, where his work has taken him. In addition, he becomes familiar with human anatomy by getting to know surgeons and accompanying them to operating rooms. He completed his training during the few years he attended the School of Fine Arts in Paris.

In 1913, he volunteered for the front and was wounded. A year later, a second injury resulted in the amputation of his right leg. Back in Paris in 1916, he began to paint. His first oil painting - the Moulin de la Galette seen from his window - dates from 1916. From then on, Eugène Paul began his career as a painter. It represents many sights of Paris to satisfy the demand.  

He signed a “GEN-PAUL” painting for the first time in 1918. In 1920, he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, and remained faithful to this institution, as well as to the Salon des Indépendants. He travels to Spain and confronts the masterpieces of the masters: Goya, El Greco, Velasquez… On his return, he uses black even more in his compositions.

His first solo exhibition took place at the Bing Gallery in 1926. He illustrated several of Céline's books, notably Voyage au bout de la nuit and Mort au crédit in 1942. He produced engravings, some of which were published in a collection entitled Views of Montmartre .

At the end of World War II, he traveled frequently to the United States and New York. At the time, he was awarded the title of general. In 1952, the Drouant-David gallery in Paris devoted a retrospective to him.

In addition to the annual events of the Parisian art scene (the Salons), Gen Paul exhibits only exceptionally. Indeed, the artist refuses to work with galleries, he does not depend on any of them.At the end of his life, he travels frequently to France and Spain.