LUCIEN GENIN (1894-1958), French Artist

After the devastation of the First World War, Lucien Genin left his provincial home in the autumn of 1919 to find his fortune among the lively Parisians in the heart of Montmartre. Not concerning himself with producing "art", he beautifully captured the spirit if Paris between the wars while enjoying a truly Bohemian existence. His friends included poets Max Jacobs and Réné Fauchois, the actor George Dorival, the sculptor Giovanni Léonardi, and the designer Pierre Colle as well as many other Montmartre celebrities. Genin's works in all their forms, perfectly convey these eclectic and friendly characters of the city and he was so well loved that one collector said "separate me from my Vlaminck, my foujita, my Derain, my Dunoyer de Segonzac and I will survive - but my Genin, never!"