LÉON CARRÉ (1878-1942)
Jebel Aïssa (2,236 m- 7,336ft)
Algeria
In Paysages de l'Atlas, watercolour, 1940, Private collection
The mountain
Jebel Aïssa (2,236 m- 7,336ft) in arabic جبل عيسى or Mount Issa high mountain in western Algeria, thus the 4th highest in Algeria. It is part of the Ksour Range of the Saharan Atlas, within the larger Atlas Mountain System. Jebel Aïssa is located in the Naâma Province and is one of the main summits of the mountains of the Saharan Atlas.
The Jebel Aissa National Park is a protected area within the area of the mountain since 2003.
The Ksour Range (جبال القصور ) or Jebel Ksour , Stretching across the provinces of Béchar and El Bayadh, it is the westernmost range of the Saharan Atlas, with the Amour Range further east.
Neolithic art, in the form of engraved stones representing horses, elephants and other animals, is found in different caves and walls throughout the range (such as at Thyout)
The artist
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.
He was recently rediscovered as a great landscaper regarded to his numerous post impressionist paintings and watercolors of Atlas mountains and Kabylia landscapes (see above)
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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
