| During a recent visit that we have just made to the Cassis Museum, visit carried out under the direction of Mr. Auguste Béranger, curator, we were able to appreciate some new works that have come to enrich the superb collection that the archivist has lovingly gathered . These works are by Pierre Girieud and Hubert Agostini.
Who was Pierre Girieud? Born to a Provencal family in Cassis, June 17, 1876; he died in Nogent-sur-Marne on December 26, 1948; he was at the artists' retirement home.
He was a very great artist who had the remarkable honor, almost unique to see his works exhibited during his lifetime at the Musée de l'Orangerie, a museum which usually only opens its doors to artists who have disappeared.
Pierre Girieud was above all a very talented decorator, a painter of large frescoes. We note in his works: The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1904); The homage to Gauguin (1906) and a large painting of the Adoration of the Magi, painted in the chapel of Saint Pancrace, in Grambois (Vaucluse).
One of his main works is the decoration of the Council room of the University of Poitiers. These are seven large panels with a total area of ??110 square meters.
The compositions, kinds of models which served as guides for the artist, were bequeathed to the Cassidian museum.
They were used to decorate the room of the Municipal Council and give it a very beautiful look, a cachet of very good taste.
These are (with a central fresco representing the illustrious characters who taught at the University from its foundation in 1431 until 1931) the four teachings: The Beautiful Letters, symbolized by Homer among the Shepherds; Sciences by Pythagoras and his school; Law by Lycurgues, and Medicine by Aesculapius. Cassis can be proud to have some works by Pierre Girieud, each visitor of which will admire the simple and direct style in opposition to the modern school. - Reproduction of Sciences - |