I usually tend to cover artists coming from the Third Reich era, but this time I would like to make an exception with this particular painter, in part because he is an artist from one of my favourite periods in art history (the Turn of the Century period to be accurate) and in part because he is credited as being the ‘inventor’ (discoverer I should say) of camouflage for the military industry. Lucien Victor Guirand de Scévola enjoyed a life of successes in his native France, he was also pretty much involved in the war effort on behalf of his country, which makes me think that the symbiosis between the Military intelligence and the art world is older than people might think at first (thinking about the CIAand its shenanigans historically-wise). He fought against the Germans in WWI (since he was French) but that should not deter the viewer from enjoying his art. I particularly appreciate his paintings from the late 19th Century / early 20th Century period the most, precisely those featuring ‘inaccessible and diaphanous young women of colourful and translucent aura’.

Biography

Lucien-Victor Guirand, known as Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola, was born in Sète on November 14, 1871, and died in Paris on March 29, 1950. He was a painter, draftsman and illustrator. Painter of flowers, still-lifes, scenes of alcoves and landscapes, Guirand de Scévola also had a brilliant career as a portraitist. Among many of his portraits is worth pointing out works for the Duke of Massa and the Duchesses of Uzes and Brissac.