Jean-François THOMAS (1894-1939) ◊ The rooster

Description

In the Pantheon of Cursed Artists, our friend would have a place of choice. He died on January 15, 1939, at the age of 45, the day before the opening of the exhibition at the Arts Club in Chicago, USA, which at last ended up consecrating his talent… The missed opportunity to forget his painful life and his constant struggle against misery. The scurvy he contracted due to poor nutrition and extreme poverty that made him cut out his sheets to make canvases… A life of novel as Zola would have written it, started in 1917 in Paris, where he befriended Brianchon, Legueult, Oudot, with whom he exhibited at the Portico gallery, from the 1920s.
Nevertheless, his style transcends everyday suffering. A scholarly and strong painting at the same time. New harmonies, made of powerful aplats in the service of a true sense of movement. A master totally forgotten, to be rediscovered urgently.