Adolphe Valette

Adolphe Valette was an exceptionally multi-talented artist. Born in France in 1876, he ignored the boundaries of national frontiers and arrived in Manchester in 1905. He introduced impressionism to the city and from 1908 to 1913 produced his famous 'Manchester-scapes'. These captured, in the subtle hues of Valette's impressionist palette, the atmospheric mood of streets, squares, waterways and industrial buildings shrouded in fog and pollution. As teacher at the Manchester School of Art, Valette tutored L.S. Lowry, who acknowledged a debt of gratitude to the artist for more than a decade's instruction. The geographical vagaries of Valette's life brought him back to his native France in 1928 where he continued to paint until his death in 1942. This fascinating and long awaited book contains over 125 beautifully produced illustrations that make Valette's finest work available to all and display his unique talents to splendid effect. Cécilia Lyon at last gives this acclaimed painter the recognition he deserves as an important player in the extensive panorama of early 20th-century British and French painting. Through four years' extensive research, in which the author followed Valette's trail both in the UK and France, exploring everywhere he lived, studied or worked, the author has amassed a wealth of new information. She has uncovered important documents and even rediscovered, in private collections, paintings that had long been forgotten. The only complete work of reference on the life and work of Adolphe Valette, this charming book is a feast for the eyes and full of hitherto unknown facts about this remarkable man. AUTHOR: Cecilia Lyon is a native of Brussels and graduated from the University of Brussels in 1978. She started a pedagogic career at EPFC, an adult education institution formed by the University of Brussels and the Chamber of Commerce of Brussels and became a Deputy Director in 1989. In 1996, she moved to Paris, where her artistic curiosity led her to follow the footsteps of the Franco-Belgian 19th-century artist Félicien Rops, and to study the Fauvist painters between Paris and the South of France. Since 2002 she has shared her time between the South of France and Cheshire. In Manchester she discovered the paintings of Adolphe Valette and developed a passion for his work. SELLING POINTS: ? Authoritative yet accessible ? Original research ? Contains a wealth of photographs Over 100 colour Illustrations