LEOPOLD PASCAL, ROI, NEAC, SMA
French 1900-1958
Leopold Pascal was born on the 8th of July 1900 in Morlaix, Brittany, France. He studied under various artists belonging to the Finistere school of artists which flourished around the locality of his home town.
During the early part of his life he met the famous French journalist and Art Critic Gustave Geffroy who encouraged Pascal to move to Paris, so at the age of 20 Pascal followed this advice which proved to be beneficial as his paintings were shown at The Musee d’Art Moderne Paris and at the Salon des Independants. His paintings became very popular throughout France, always with good reviews from the French art critics of the period.
Shortly before the war he met the artist Lucette de la Fougere who at the time was living in London. They fell in love and became lovers In the summer of 1940 Pascal arrived in England to work as the official War Artist of General De Gaulle’s Free French Forces, during this period he also worked as a war correspondent and spent a lot of time in Scotland . Following the end of the war, Pascal settled in Chelsea, London where he lived with Lucette, He continued to exhibit as a member of several societies including the ‘New Chelsea Group’ which he himself founded, and the ‘Royal Society of Marine Artists’, and in 1954 a retrospective exhibition of his work was held by the ‘French Institute’. He continued to paint from his Chelsea studio until his death in 1958.
He became an elected member and exhibitor of The New English Art Club and The Royal Society for Painters in Oils. Pascal’s style possesses a unique personality throughout his painting, they are delicate and atmospheric, his nautical paintings explore the ever changing moods of the landscapes they depict, his still-life’s in particular wonderfully capture the delicate beauties that fill our world, with a deeply personal sense of warmth within.