Louis Berthommé-Saint-André

(French, 1905-1977)

Born in Barbary, France on Febrary 4, 1905, Louis Berthommé Saint-André spent his early childhood in Saintes, a commune in the southwest of France. Initially a student of architecture at Georges Naud, Berthommé-Saint-André entered the École des Beaux-Arts of Paris in 1921 where he studied under Fernand Cormon and Jean-Paul Laurens.

The French artist and illustrator is particularly known for his boudoir scenes, nudes, and landscapes, in a vibrant, expressive style. His figurative work shows influence of Eugène Delacroix, and his overall body of work was influenced by his travels to Algeria. He was the recipient of the coveted Abd-el-Tif Prize in 1925, allowing him to remain in Algiers to paint. He began exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1924, where he won a silver medal in 1928. He also exhibited at the Salon d'Automne beginning in 1928, at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts from 1934-1936, and at the Salon des Tuileries after 1935.

A prolific figurative illustrator and painter, Berthommé-Saint-André created landscapes of Haute-Provence and Île-de-France, as well as erotic illustrations for works by Apollinaire, Baudelaire, Diderot and Voltaire. In 1970, he traveled to sub-Saharan Africa before finishing out his years back in Paris where he died on October 1, 1977. His works are represented in the National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers, the Museum of Art and History in Narbonne, and in the Angoulême Museum in France.