French 1901-1977

Cavaillès was an extremely well known and talented painter – and very versatile: he worked in oils, gouache and pastel, and his subject matter featured figures, portraits, nudes, still-life’s, flowers, landscapes and animals. His work is represented in many leading collections and museums, including the Modern Art Museum in Paris, and the museums in Toulouse, Albi, Marseilles, Chicago and Helsinki.

He started as a technical draughtsman during which time he met “le pere Artigue”, who was a friend of the famous pointillist artist Henri Martin, and who encouraged him to go to Paris to study fine art. In 1925 he enrolled at the Academie Julian and he began exhibiting at the various Parisian Salons from 1928 on. At the Societé des Artistes Francais, Artistes Independants and l’Automne. To fund his studies he opened a small chemist shop. He was soon invited to participate at the Salon des Tuileries and in 1936 he organized the 14th exhibition of the Artistes de ce temps in the Petit-Palais. In the same year he received the prestigious Grant Blumenthal and he was soon awarded the commission to decorate the Pavilion of Languedoc for the Exposition Universelle. He was part of a group of artists called “La Realite Poetique”.

His artistic style is characterized by the juxtaposition of pure color, derived from an interpretation of fauvist painting which was less interested in the early Fauve artists’ search for intensity and dynamism than a simple expression of ‘joie de vivre’.

Museums:
Modern art Museum in Paris
Toulouse
Albi
Marseilles
Chicago
Helsinki