Louis Ernest Fortuné Andrieux, known as Louis FORTUNEY - Lot 70

Louis Ernest Fortuné Andrieux, known as Louis FORTUNEY (Argeliers 1878 - 1950 Cannes) La belle sévillane pastel on paper 31.5 x 23 cm; 50.5 x 42 cm (with frame) signed lower right in a green wooden frame Louis Ernest Fortuné Andrieux began his training at the Beaux-Arts in Toulouse, where he twice won first prize, and continued it in Belle Époque Paris under the pseudonym Louis Fortuney. A talented illustrator, but above all a pastellist, he befriended leading figures such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Gervex, Alfred Sisley and Auguste Rodin. Critics of the time described his art as "Fauve", "Expressionist" and even "Post-Impressionist". However, Fortuney refused to be categorized. An anarchist, he steered clear of the art market and the Salons, which did not prevent him from pursuing a dense and prolific artistic activity throughout his life.