José Belon

The French painter and draughtsman José Belon — also known by the first name Joseph — worked at the intersection of painting, illustration and poster art. Born in Alès in 1861 and died in Paris in 1927, he moved to the capital at a very young age, where he exhibited subjects inspired by Paris and his hometown at the Salon des Artistes français. He studied at the Beaux-Arts, identified as the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts. His work as an illustrator extended to books and several periodicals, including Le Petit Journal, Gil Blas, L’Intransigeant, La Presse and Le Monde illustré. He also designed posters for the Moulin Rouge, Lamalou-les-Bains and Saint-Raphaël-Quinquina.

The illustrated books offer some specific points of reference for this practice. In 1885, Belon contributed fifty pen drawings to the edition of Paris anecdote by Alexandre Privat d’Anglemont. He also produced fifty drawings for En suivant Monsieur Carnot. Notes humoristiques de Paul Belon, published in 1893, and contributed to Femmes de France. Types & Coiffures, a Belle Jardinière calendar published in 1907.

His ties to the Gard region are also reflected in his commitment to the museum in Uzès. During stays in the region, in 1909 he proposed, together with his elder brother Albin, the creation of this institution, now the musée municipal Georges-Borias. Belon and his friends gave it several works; he later donated various paintings of his own to the museum until his death. The works listed include La Lutte d’hommes dans le Midi (1886), held at the musée municipal Georges-Borias, and Les Magnanarelles (1886), recorded at the Uzès town hall. Soir d’été sur le boulevard Montparnasse, dated 1890 and held at the museum, was restored by the museum in 2004. The corpus also mentions Portraits de sculpteurs, Jour de fête and Réjouissances champêtres. A canvas entitled Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, signed at the lower left and titled on the reverse, measuring 46 × 55 cm, was sold for 750 CHF at Dobiaschofsky.

Works recorded at auction

Dobiaschofsky

"Saint-Rémy-de-Provence".

Oil on canvas

Original catalogue wording

"Saint-Rémy-de-Provence".
Öl auf Leinwand

Date to be documented

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

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