Raymond Allegre

Raymond Allegre studied at "l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts" in Paris under the tutelage of Alexis Vollon, Léon Bonnat and Jean-Paul Laurens. From 1875 onwards, he painted landscapes of the Parisian region and Normandy. He then moved back to Provence, an area which provided him endless inspiration. He was a landscapist known for his views of Venice and of Provence.

Allègre sent vistas of the French Riviera, Monaco and Martigues near St Tropez (a very popular artists' colony) to the highly selective Salon de Paris from 1880 to 1932, winning numerous prizes and honors. He received an Honorable Mention at the Salon of 1883, received the Raigecourt-Goyon Grand-Prize in 1893, and a Bronze Medal at the 1900 Exposition Universelle. He submitted three paintings to the Salon of 1900,  and he presented nineteen paintings at the Exposition Colonial in Paris in 1906. He was also awarded the title of "Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur" in 1903. The State purchased several of his works for its national museums.

The discovery of Venice in the early 1900s was a visual epiphany for Allègre. He dedicated the remaining years of his career to relentlessly 'dissecting' the mythical island, just as generations of artists did years earlier, achieving a remarkable spontaneous lively impression of the motif through his lush use of color and gorgeous brushwork.