artist/ LORJOU

FRANCE

Bernard Lorjou is a French painter and engraver born in Blois. He worked in a number of small trades before joining the drawing studio of Francis Ducharne, supplier to the Lyonnais silk manufacturers. Self-taught in Ducharne’s studio, he began his training as a draftsman and, above all, as a colorist. He also attended the free academies, copied the Ancients at the Louvre, met a number of young artists and made friends with Georges Valmier.
Lorjou met Georges Megros, who bought him a large number of drawings. Freed from all financial constraints, he devoted himself entirely to painting. In 1928, he sent one of his paintings to the Salon d’Automne. His first solo exhibition was held at the Galerie du Bac, Paris, in 1945.
1948 marked a turning point: Bernard Lorjou won the critics’ prize for his painting “L’enfant et ses sortilèges”, tied with Bernard Buffet. Buoyed by this success, he brought together painter friends Yvonne Mottet, Michel de Gallard, Paul Rebeyrolle and Michel Thompson in a group called “L’homme témoin”, whose first event took place at the Galerie du Bac on June 21, 1948.