| The retrospective that Marcel Roche organized at the Salon d'Automne of Pierre Girieud's work will be, for many people, a revelation. It has not been said enough, during his lifetime, that Girieud was an artist fed by the purest traditions. He has always had this sense of lyricism and grandeur that gives his work its quality, supported by the warmth and the southern color, but without ever falling into exuberance and disorder. Girieud's paintings are always subject to strict discipline and keep a harmonious style. He was always tempted by large-scale works, his first shipment to the Salon des Indépendants in 1905 was a "Temptation of Saint Anthony" of two square meters and, in 1906, his "Hommage à Gauguin", at the Salon d'Automne was three by two. His "Emotion in front of Nature" (4m.50 sue 2m.), His "Damned women", his "Three Graces", his big nudes, his landscapes caused a sensation at the Salon d'Automne and the Independants, although his paintings n belong in no way to the fawn or cubist movement that fought the Grand and Petit-Palais. Girieud was not enrolled in any troop. Only the great traditions of the past attracted him. He dreamed of decorating large walls, monuments. One can imagine his joy when he was asked in 1911 to decorate the fresco in the Saint-Pancrace Chapel in Grambois. The fresco was always for him a means of expression which fascinated him and which he illustrated. Large decorations like that of the Palace of Discovery, of which we publish a fragment, above,. That of the University of Poitiers, that of the town hall of Ivry recall what a great decorator was this artist, so pure so passionate, rich in the love he had for antiques. |