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Fernand ALLARD L'OLIVIER (1883-1933)

Oil on canvas in excellent condition signed lower right and dated 1921

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Dimensions unframed: H 20.1 in. x W 16 in. ; H 51 cm x W 40.5 cm

Dimensions framed: H 24 in. x W 20.1 in. ; H 61 cm x W 51cm

 

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Our opinion

 

We discovered Fernand Allard L’Olivier (or 'FALO', the acronym by which he signed some his paintings) in the reference book “Africanists, Painter Travellers” by Lynne Thornton. We really fell in love for this painting “Woman with a hat” from 1921, a period during which the career of FALO reached new hights, and during which he returned to colourful and joyful subjects after the dark days of World War I. The impressionist style, the broad brushstrokes, the subtle use of colours and, above all, the power and emotion that FALO is transmitting in the eyes of the seater are simply incredible. This painting is in our view a remarkable piece of art that can be compared with, and prefigures in style and force, the masterpiece portraits he realised of his mother (which won the gold medal at the Salon  of 1924 and is currently exposed in the Tournai Museum of Fine art), and the portrait of his wife Juliette painted in 1925.

 

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About the Artist

 

Childhood

Fernand Allard L'Olivier is born in 1883 in the Belgian town of Tournai. He grew up in an artistic family. His father Charles Allard owned a lithography workshop and was teaching watercolours at the Académie des beaux-arts de Tournai. His uncles were also all involved in the local artistic circle and it is in this environment that Fernand showed an early predisposition to drawing and painting. Writing also played an important role in his career - a talent he inherited from his grand-aunt, Pauline L’Olivier, who was a recognised writer and whom must have made a strong impression on Fernand as he took her name for his artist’s signature.

 

Education

With little inclination towards school, Fernand started an apprenticeship in lithography at 14 years old in Brussels. In 1901, at the age of 18, he moved to Paris to perfect his artistic education by enrolling in the Académie Julian. Initially pupil of the academic painter William Bouguereau, he later studied with Gabriel Ferrier who taught him, notably, the art of portraiture. But FALO is often considered to have had two masters who played an instrumental role in his artistic development: Jean-Paul Laurens, and Jules Adler, the “Painter of the Humble”, with whom FALO maintained a close friendship during his lifetime. 

 

Artistic life in Paris 

In the bustling artistic Paris of 1904, Fernand met his wife Juliette Rossignol with whom he would have two kids. He started to exhibit his work in 1907, and in 1908 he participated, for the first time, in the “Salon d’Automne.” With a reputation slowly growing following several exhibitions, FALO started to sell his first paintings. And at the same time, he worked as a critic in the numerous bourgeoning art journals in Paris at the time. In 1912, there was a turning point in his career when his painting “Baigneuses Surprises" was acclaimed at the Salon des Artistes Français, which further increased his notoriety.

 

The War

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Fernand attempted to join a Belgian regiment, but his application was declined. In 1916, his offer was finally accepted and he joined a section newly created by the Belgian Army to camouflage military equipment with abstract painted shapes. Fernand was transferred to the "Section artistique de l'armée belge en campagne" where he stayed until the end of the war. His role, along with 26 other artists, involved going into the trenches to sketch and paint the day-to-day life of soldiers on the frontline. The paintings he produced during the war are both historical testimony of this period, and include incredibly powerful artworks depicting the emotions of men confronted with the horrors of wartime.

 

Post war notoriety

After the war, he and his family moved to Brussels. Bright colours reappear in his paintings with depictions of leisurely scenes which proved to be very popular. After having won a silver medal at the salon in 1920, two of his paintings are bought by Argentina and exposed in Buenos Aires. That same year, Fernand received a distinction from the King Albert of Belgium and also receive the prestigious Hainaut Price. In the following years, FALO was approached multiple times to paint large scale projects such as the one at the Maison du Peuple in Quaregnon, He  continued to participate in exhibits at the Salon until 1928 and he collected multiple distinctions and gold medals. Fernand Allard L’Olivier became a recognised and established artist of post-war Belgium.

 

First Trip to Congo

FALO always had a passion for travel. He made several trips as soon as his finances allowed him to do so, including Algeria in 1913, Tunisia in 1923 and, and Poland in 1926 where he created decorative paintings in Łódź. But it is in 1928, that he made a transformative trip after having been invited by his friend, the filmmaker Ernest Genval, to join him on a long travel across the African continent to Belgian Congo. Like many artists at the time who were dreaming of travelling to Africa but lacked the budget and logistical support, Fernand turned to the Colonial Ministry who agreed to support the trip if his painting could later  be used for colonial exhibitions in Belgium. FALO travelled through Egypt and met Genval in Dar es Salaam where they proceeded to the Katanga Province and the River Kasai before reaching Matadi in the Congo. 

 

Africanist

FALO fell in love with the Congo and created multiple sketches, portraits and paintings of local tribes while exploring different parts of the country. It is for this body of work that art historians often refer to FALO as the “painter of Congo” and as part of the “Africanist” art movement (related to Orientalism) of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When he returned to Belgium in 1929, his works were presented in large exhibitions which were very successful. Whilst his work was part of colonial propaganda, from his correspondence with family and friends, he cherished a deep love for Congo and the Congolese people. He always spoke respectfully about the Congolese and disapproved of the way Belgian colonials treated them.

 

The second trip to Congo

In November 1932, FALO embarked onboard the cruise ship L’Albertville in Antwerp for his second trip to the Congo. A financial crisis that hit Europe at the time began to take its toll on his financial affairs and Fernand was concerned that he wouldn't be able to recoup the expenses of the trip. After spending several months visiting previously unseen places in the western Congo, he also travelled around Lake Tanganyika and visited what is now Burundi. By April 1933, FALO had created enough works to organise exhibitions in Costermansville and Léopoldville, after which he intended to travel back home. 

 

A mysterious disappearance 

On the 9th of June 1933, Fernand was heading to Léopoldville onboard the river tugboat “Flandre”, when the ship made an overnight stop in Yanongé. At 20:15, while he was chatting with fellow passengers, he excused himself for a minute and headed toward his cabin. A few moments later a loud splash was heard. His body was retrieved from the river two days later. This prompted widespread stupefaction among the other passengers of the Flandre who reported Fernand as being joyful and genuinely happy to see his family soon. The autopsy revealed a fractured skull, no poison, no medicine and a very limited quantity of alcohol drunk during the dinner. No one ever found out what happened that night. The abrupt and mysterious death of one the most famous living painter of Belgium at the time led to multiple press articles, followed by numerous tributes and retrospective exhibitions in the following decades. 

 

Museums

The paintings of Fernand Allard L’Olivier can be found in public and private collections around the globe. His works may be seen at numerous Belgian museums such as the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Musée Royal de l'Armée et de l'Histoire Militaire in Brussels, Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tournai,  the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, the In Flanders Fields Museum; but also abroad in the War Museum of Paris, La Piscine Museum of Roubaix, the Museum of Fine Arts of Pau, the Muzeum Sztuki Łódź in Poland, and the Musées d'art et d'histoire de Genève in Switzerland.

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References

The website and book realised by Falo's grand-daughter Geneviève Allard-Gouinaud: http://fernand-allard-lolivier.be

The Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp: https://www.itg.be/e/the-artwork-of-allard-lolivier

The Book of Lynne Thornton "Les Africanistes, peintres voyageurs"

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