Mid Century Painting Of A Church, In A Monastery Garden From The 1950s By Shedlin (Reginald Schoedelin)

Painting of a church or monastery in a garden, mid century, oil on canvas by Reginald Schoedelin. The painting is indistinctly signed bottom right, but there is a notation and attribution on the back stretcher. Presented in a plain wood baton frame.

This charming painting captures a picturesque village scene, dominated by an expansive church rendered in bold, geometric lines. The church, with its elongated windows and tall, imposing facade, is a focal point, exuding a sense of strength and stability. The surrounding structures, depicted in a mix of muted earthy tones, complement the church, creating a harmonious balance within the composition. The artist employs a slightly distorted perspective, which adds a dynamic, almost abstract quality to the piece. Vegetation in the foreground introduces an organic contrast, with stylized trees and shrubs offering texture and movement. The sky, painted in soft blues and whites, contributes a serene backdrop, enhancing the calm yet lively atmosphere. This piece is a testament to the artist's skill in blending structural forms with fluid natural elements, making it a captivating study of architectural and environmental interplay.

Reginald Schoedelin was born on April 3, 1908 in Bayonne, of British parents. Passionate about drawing, he went to Paris as soon as he obtained his baccalaureate and enrolled at the Ecole des Arts-Décoratifs. But very quickly, he considered this teaching too traditional and preferred to train at the Colarossi and Jullian academies.

In 1929, he made his debut at the Salon des Artistes français with Le Pont Marie, a large urban landscape in ink and watercolour treated in muted tones. From 1931, he travelled to Spain and brought back drawings, the beginnings of paintings elaborated in workshop. In 1932, he exhibited with about thirty avant-garde comrades, "the barge group". He also exhibits in various galleries and at the Salon des Tuileries, but did not succeed in selling.

In 1935, he and the painter Saint-Maur, with the support of two art magazines, organized the Salon de l'Art Mural. Until 1949, there were four Salons so named, exhibiting compositions that could be transferred to the walls. Among the exhibitors: Chagall, Dufy, Léger, Lurçat, Matisse, Miro, Picasso, Vasarely... At the opening on 10 June 1936, he gave a lecture, the text of which was reprinted in the journal Europe (15 September 1936). He states: "Thinking mural, painting murals is not the privilege of a single aesthetic [...]. Mural art is the only truly social art."

During the summer of 1936, while travelling in Spain, he had to endure the first bombings of the Civil War. Back in Paris, convinced that he had narrowly escaped death, he exhibited Ceci est mon testament, a vast expressionist frieze with strident colours. This, a year before Picasso painted Guernica. In view of the International Exhibition in Paris in 1937, Schoedelin assisted Raoul Dufy who had received commissions for several large decorations. His personal style, however, was more influenced by his friends Picasso and Léger. On March 7, 1940, he married Jacqueline Simon, granddaughter of the orientalist painter Ernest Simon and director of Tel Editions, a subsidiary of Gallimard. Four months later, fleeing occupied Paris, he joined the maquis until August 1944. Demobilized for health reasons, he joined his wife, treated himself and resumed the practice of his art.

From 1946, under the name Shedlin, he exhibited landscapes and still lifes. Finally, its sales took off with the support of good gallery owners and thanks to the purchases of several collectors. The critics readily praised him, especially on the occasion of the Salon d'Automne. In 1948, he became a naturalized French citizen. In 1952, his paintings represented France in Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile. In those years, his very lively design served as a basis for colours with strong contrasts. Then, at the end of the 1950s, his style evolved. He painted fewer still lifes and more landscapes. Above all, he adopted softer and more nuanced tones, explicitly placing himself in the movement of Pierre Bonnard. It was also the time when he produced lithographs, some of which were in colour.

In 1964, while visiting a friend, he discovered the Vivarais mountains. Seduced by these austere landscapes that reminded him of Spain, he bought a house in the village of Mias, commune of Lussas, Ardèche. Very quickly, he drew new inspiration from the Ardèche landscapes. His palette is lightening. His favorite mode of expression became drawing in oil pastel, on canvas or on hardboard panels. He exhibited in Aubenas, Vals, Villeneuve-de-Berg and in the former silkworm farm of Mias which became his studio. In 1973, he went to Japan to exhibit and brought back drawings. Finally, when democracy was restored, he reconnected with Spain.

When his wife retired, the couple lived more and more in Mias. At the end of the 1970s, "Reggie", as he was known to his relatives, was tested in his health, but continued to paint and draw. During the summer of 1980, he had conversations in front of a tape recorder with a friend who was a literature teacher, Maurice Boulle. On September 22, 1988, he died in Lussas.

The National Fund for Contemporary Art and the city of Strasbourg hold his works. The text of his conversations with Maurice Boulle is deposited in the Departmental Archives of the Ardèche. The history of the movement L'Art mural was written by René Dauthy and published by the association Les Amis du peintre et sculpteur Saint-Maur under the title Saint-Maur et l'Art mural, 1935-1949, Louveciennes, France, 1999. Tournefeuille devoted two articles to him, in 2007 and 2008.

Condition report:

Good. Some light surface scuffing top side right.