A pupil of Auguste Morisot at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, then of Maurice Denis and Marcel-Lenoir, painter, engraver and illustrator Louis Bouquet established himself in the inter-war period as one of the most brilliant French decorators, working with renowned architects such as Michel Roux-Spitz, Paul Tournon and Albert Laprade. His monumental art is illustrated on the most prestigious buildings and sites of the 1930s: the Salon de l'Afrique at the Musée des Colonies (1931) and the Church of the Holy Spirit in Paris (1933), the new town hall in Puteaux (1934), as well as the Grande Poste in Lyon (1937).
If the great decors of the painter established his celebrity and remain the most visible part of his oeuvre, his paintings and engraved work remain fairly unknown. After the donation of Tristan and Isolde (1921) and the deposit of Orpheus charming the animals (1920), granted by the artist's heirs in 2014, the exhibition addresses the resurgence of myths in the artist's work during the first decades of the 20th century.
This exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Print and Graphic arts Museum of Lyon.