LÉON CARRÉ (1878-1942)
Lalla Khedidja (2,308 m -7,572 ft)
Algeria
In Paysage du Djurdjura, 1926, Private collection
The mountain
Lalla Khedidja (2,308 m -7,572 ft) in the Jurjura Range is the highest summit of the Tell Atlas, a mountain chain over 1,500 km (932 mi) in length, belonging to the Atlas mountain ranges in North Africa, stretching from Morocco, to Tunisia through Algeria. The ranges of this system have average elevations of about 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and form a natural barrier between the Mediterranean and the Sahara. Several large cities such as the Algerian capital, Algiers and Oran lie at the base of the Tell Atlas. The Algerian city Constantine lies 80 km inland and directly in the mountains at 650 meters in elevation. A number of smaller towns and villages are situated within the Tell; for example, Chiffa is nestled within the Chiffa gorge.
The Tell Atlas runs parallel to the Mediterranean coast. Together with the Saharan Atlas to the south it forms the northernmost of two more or less parallel ranges which approach one another towards the east, remaining quite distinct from one another in Western Algeria and merging in Eastern Algeria. At the western end, it ends at the Rif and Middle Atlas ranges in Morocco. The Tell Atlas are also a distinct physiographic section of the larger Atlas Mountains province, which in turn is part of the larger African Alpine System physiographic division. The Tell Atlas and the Saharan Atlas form two natural barriers, the first against the Mediterranean and the second against the Sahara. Between them lies the valley of the Chelif and various lesser rivers.
The French orientalist painter and illustrator Léon Carré entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Rennes, then he joined the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris on 1896 thanks to Léon Bonnat. He was the double winner of the Chenavard prize. He exhibited at the Salon of French Artists in 1900 and, in 1905, at the Salon des Independants, and made a first trip to Algeria in 1907.
He exhibited at the Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts from 1911, and at the Autumn Fair.
Winner of the Villa Abd-el-Tif scholarship in 1909, he settled in Algiers. Orientalist painter, he practices oil, gouache and pastel. In 1927, Léon Carré helped decorate the Ile-de-France liner for the Transatlantic Company, and designed numerous posters for the PLM Company (including the centenary of Algeria in 1930).
He also drew the 50 franc banknote issued by the Bank of Algeria in 1942.
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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
