SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Pierre Cornu, also known as Pierre Alfred Cornu, was a French and Provençal painter, born in 1895 and died in 1996; one biography places his birth in Salon-de-Provence. According to this biography, he began painting at the age of twenty and continued working until his death; from 1933, he exhibited in Paris at the Salons d’Automne, des Artistes Indépendants and des Tuileries.
His work includes interiors, landscapes, figures and still lifes. The female figure recurs in his work, while landscapes, still lifes and portraits broaden his repertoire. A statement attributed to him in the biography summarises his conception of painting: “Before being anything at all, figurative or not, realistic or transcendent, learned or naïve, a work of art, and particularly a painting, must be happy.” The same source describes a broadly brushed, rich and vivid painting style, which it relates to the practices of southern artists, particularly those of Auguste Chabaud, Pierre Ambrogiani and Max Agostini.
Among the documented works is Femme aux bas rouges lisant, a signed oil on canvas measuring 54 × 37 cm, presented in a sale of 20th-century and contemporary art in Geneva in December 2016; the lot was knocked down at 700, against an estimate of 400 to 600.
This profile brings together identity references for Pierre Cornu and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
6 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky, Genève Enchères, Piguet, Germann. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Oil on canvas
"Paysage du sud de la France".
Öl auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2023-05-13
Published result : 500 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 800
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Oil on canvas
Femme aux bas rouges lisant
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2016-12-15
Published result : 700 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 400–600
View the lot at the auction house ↗Oil on canvas
"Adeline au tricot".
Öl auf Lwd.
Date to be documented
Published result : 2400 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2400
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Oil on canvas
"Le modèle endormie".
Öl auf Leinwand
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Oil on canvas
La lettre,
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2013-06-19
Published result : 1400 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1200–1800
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Frau beim Lesen
Öl auf Leinwand.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
