Louis Dewis: An Artist’s Life in France

Inspired by such French masters of landscape painting as Corot, Monet, and Cézanne, Louis Dewis (1872-1946) painted scenes of cities, villages, and the countryside throughout France. Working primarily from 1916 until his death in 1946, Dewis was regarded by critics of his time as one of his country’s most distinguished landscape painters, contributing to a revival of traditional landscape painting in France during the years between the world wars. This revival, which included such renowned artists as André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, and André Dunoyer de Segonzac, sought to assert nature as a preeminent subject for modern art in France.

Louis Dewis: An Artist’s Life in France places Dewis’s work in historical context and seeks to reestablish his role in the story of 20th-century French art. Including more than 35 paintings, drawings, prints and career memorabilia from throughout the artist’s life, the exhibition showcases his personal style of expressive realism that sought to reveal his emotional connection to the landscape with animated brushwork, broad tones, and rich color. His paintings of locales throughout France were idealized and imbued with a sense of place. Dewis’s classically inspired compositions and his exploration of the country’s geographic and cultural regions put his work within the mainstream of French art of his day.

Louis Dewis: An Artist’s Life in France is organized by the Orlando Museum of Art with loans generously provided by Mr. Brad Face from his extensive collection of the artist’s work.