Joseph-Marius Jean Avy
French, 1871-1939
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Joseph-Marius Avy was a French painter.
He painted landscapes, genre scenes, especially on the elegant Parisian environment, and wall decorations. He was also a skilled illustrator and an accomplished pastelist.
Joseph Marius Jean Avy, known as Marius Avy, was born in Marseille into a wealthy family. His father was a businessman. After his first studies he manifested the desire to undertake the path of art, following his own inclinations. He was therefore sent to Paris, where he was a pupil of Léon Bonnat and Albert Maignan.
From 1900 until 1933 he regularly exhibited at the "Salon des artistes français" and, from 1934 to 1939, the year of his death, at the "Salon de la Société nationale des beaux-arts".
In 1900 he won the Marie Bashkirtseff Prize, in 1903 he was awarded the second class medal and, in 1937, the "Diplôme d'honneur". He was awarded the title of Knight of the Legion d'honneur and, ten years later, was promoted to Commander. During the First World War he was decorated with the Cross of War.
In 1909 Avy married Germaine Besnard, daughter of the painter Albert Besnard, having as best man at the wedding the artist Henry Lerolle.On this occasion he assisted his father-in-law in arranging the canvases that decorated the dome of the Petit Palais. Albert Besnard portrayed him in uniform in a 1916 pastel.
Joseph Marius Avy often painted Italian landscapes. Some of his compositions of worldly life, such as the Bal en blanc, painted with a particular harmony of very contrasting colors, can be considered apart for their distinct dynamism. His decorations include the wedding hall of the Rotterdam Town Hall.
After the death of his wife Germaine, Joseph Avy married Clotilde Pregniard on May 12, '39 at the age of 67, but in December of the same year he died at his home in Paris on rue Boissonade.