| (....) Not far away, at Druet, before the 19th year of the First group, illustrated by Maurice Denis, the tastiest contrast is offered to us by the kind harmonies of Georges d'Espagnat, neighbor of Pierre Girieud:
(...) Pupil of this Gustave Moreau who wished to serve as a “bridge” between the past of the masters and the uncertain future, Pierre Girieud has retained the classic cult of the subject, of form, of the precise Quattrocentists, of the historical landscape, who survives from Poussin to René Ménard. The colorful sfumato by Georges d'Espagnat is not his fact.
The evocative of the Hindu Sultana remains severe at the Salon d'Automne, even in his Praise of Naked Beauty.
In the pictorial crisis of the century, it was sometimes strange and often dry, as Dufrénoy was heavy before recovering; but his beautiful conviction prevails: his ancient Pastorales are now inscribed on the agate backgrounds of the Provencal hills and his view of the Arles Theater, appropriately acquired by the State, suggests a candid return to Corot, it is that is to say, the luminous naivety of real painting. (....)
Reproduction of: The Painter in front of his Subject p.65 |