LÉON CARRÉ (1878-1942)
Jebel Chelia (2,398m - 7,867ft)
Algeria
In Paysage Algérien, Oil on canvas, 1934, Private collection
The mountain
Jebel Chelia (2,398m - 7,867ft) is a mountain located in the east of Algeria. It constitutes the highest peak of the Aurés mountain range, on the border of the wilaya of Batna and the wilaya of Khenchela. Mount Chelia is the second highest mountain peak in Algeria after Mount Tahat in the Hoggar and the highest regularly snow-covered from late November to late February or early March.
Many specialists highlight the Aurès as to the potential for developing seasonal tourism in the region (skiing, hiking, trekking, climbing, etc.) especially as neighboring countries such as Tunisia or Libya do not do not have high mountains. However, the means have so far not been put in place to exploit these potentialities. The construction of the first Maghreb astronomical observatory is planned at the summit of Mount Chelia, taking advantage of its altitude.
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
