Notary Portrait

Antique oil painting from France: This 1906's painting by Gustave de Chanaleilles represents Mr. Paul Turin, notary in Aubenas, Ardèche.

The painter's life remains mysterious, we know however that he is one of the last of the line of De Chanaleilles. A family of the French nobility with chivalrous extraction, coming from Velay and Vivarais, The family lineage disappeared in 1925.

Long before this notary sketch,  in 1153, "Guillaume II de Chanaleilles", was a knight of the Temple. He donated to his order the domain of "Varneris" which he had acquired and as this fief came under the Crown, "Louis VII" approved this donation and sealed it. His name and his arms are in the halls of the Crusades in the "Palais de Versailles".

The artist made several nudes during his career, mainly dark-haired women's dozing on beds. He also painted a series of landscapes on the French Riviera. He cultivated a specific attraction for pastel streets and the play of light and shadow of small Mediterranean towns. He exposed several of his works at the "Salon des Indépendants" in Paris.