20th Century French & European Paintings

About this collection

20th century French oil paintings are the modern register of the gallery, from the early 1900s to the postwar decades, when French and European painters kept the old subjects of landscape, portrait and still life but painted them with freer brushwork and stronger colour.

Colour won. This modern French painting runs from Paris street scenes and harbour views to flower still lifes and portraits, mostly oils on canvas, panel or board with a few gouaches and pastels, and most of it signed. Many works follow the Post-Impressionist manner, and the mid-century French painting of the postwar years shows the influence of the School of Paris. To place these works in the movements they grew out of, see Art Movements & Schools.

Signed Marie Astoin landscape painted in thick impasto, oil on wood panel, 20th century French school, in a gilt moulded frame

Marie Astoin (1923-2011)

Signed Original Landscape by Marie Astoin (1923-2011), Oil on Wood Panel, 20th Century French School, Gilt Frame

$2,300

An avenue of trees with figures on the path, signed Henri Stenn, in a carved and whitewashed frame

Henri Stenn (1903-1993)

Signed Post-Impressionist Oil Painting, Tree-Lined Avenue with Figures by Henri Stenn (1903-1993), Mid-Century French Landscape on Panel

$1,800

Portrait of a Pekingese named Kit, signed oil on panel by Ernest Jean Delahaye, circa 1910, in an oak frame

Ernest Jean Delahaye (1855-1921)

Portrait of a Pekingese Named Kit, Signed Oil on Panel by Ernest Jean Delahaye, Circa 1910, Oak Frame

$2,900

Sunset landscape with a shepherd and his flock in silhouette against an orange sun, in a silvered moulded frame (Etienne Mein)

Etienne Mein (1865-1938)

Etienne Mein, Oedipus and Antigone at Sunset, Signed Oil on Canvas, circa 1900, Framed

$3,800

Signed Venice lagoon scene by Pierre Forest, three lateen sails in ochre and rose above a blue hulled boat, oil on board in a carved giltwood frame

Pierre Forest (1881-1971)

Pierre Forest, Sailing Boats on the Venice Lagoon, Signed Oil on Board, Early 20th Century, Carved Gilt Frame

$2,900

Signed oval portrait of a young woman in a rose gown with a short strand of pearls, dated 1925, unframed oil on canvas by Max Moreau

Max Moreau (1902-1992)

Young Woman with Pearls

$4,700

Willow leaning over dark water with reeds and a gold field beyond, signed oil on canvas

James Desvarreux-Larpenteur (1847-1937)

James Desvarreux-Larpenteur, Pollarded Willow Over the River, Signed Oil on Canvas, Dated 1921, Unframed

$1,900

Jules-Alexandre Grün portrait of a young sitter in a wide white collar, signed oil on canvas in a gilt frame with black frieze

Jules-Alexandre Grün (1868-1938)

Portrait in a Sailor Collar

$1,900

Signed pastel by Hugues Claude Pissarro showing a garden path leading to a stone birdbath, in a moulded gilt frame under glass

Hugues Claude Pissarro (1935-)

Hugues Claude Pissarro, Garden Path with Birdbath, Original Signed Pastel on Paper, 1960s, Framed

$8,900

Two polo players at the gallop with mallets raised, their chestnut ponies crossing a sunlit field, in a gilt and black frame (Claude Fossoux)

Claude Fossoux (b. 1946)

Claude Fossoux, Polo Players, Signed Oil on Canvas, French School, 1970s, Framed

$3,700

Paul Flaubert

La Place du Bourg, Signed Oil on Panel, French School, 1950s, Carved Frame

$1,900

Four Belle Epoque figures in a group, signed oil on canvas by Ramon Dilley dated 1973

Ramon Dilley (1932-)

Elstir en Famille, Original Oil on Canvas by Ramon Dilley, Signed and Dated 1973

$2,700

Fruit picking in a summer garden, signed oil on canvas by Sinicki in thick impasto, 20th century French school, in a gilt frame

Sinicki, French School, 20th century

Fruit Picking in a Summer Garden, Signed Oil on Canvas by Sinicki, 20th Century French School, Gilt Frame

$3,600

A woman in orange at the races with a horse passing behind, signed oil on canvas by Michel Labonne, 1960s, in a gilt frame

Michel Labonne (1912-1990)

At the Races, a Woman in Orange with a Horse Passing Behind, Signed Oil on Canvas by Michel Labonne, 1960s, Gilt Frame

$2,700

Still life with a tall carafe and a mass of dark grapes painted in thick impasto, in a lattice-carved gilt frame (Paul Audra)

Paul Audra (1869-1948)

Paul Audra, Still Life with Grapes and a Carafe, Signed Oil on Canvas, Early 20th Century, Gilt Frame

$2,300

Paris street scene between tall buildings, signed oil on canvas by Georges Berger dated 1975

Georges Berger (1908-1976)

Original Street Scene with Figures, Oil on Canvas, Signed and Dated 1975

$1,800

Elsewhere in the gallery

20th century paintings for sale at GalerieClub

The century opened in war. French painters lived through two world wars, a revolution in colour and the rise of Paris as the capital of modern art, and the 20th century oil paintings in this collection follow that story from the early 1900s to the 1970s, most of them French modern oil paintings.

Early 20th century French oil paintings

The first decades kept one foot in the old century. Painters still worked from animals, gardens and the people around them, but their touch loosened, and an early 20th century French oil painting often carries the mark of its years directly, a dog painted in the campaigns of the First World War, a portrait dated in the 1920s. Some of these 1900s paintings are on canvas, others on wood panel.

The School of Paris and French modern painting

Between the wars Paris drew painters from all over Europe. Artists from Russia, Poland, Italy and Spain settled in Montparnasse and Montmartre, and critics grouped them, with their French neighbours, under the name School of Paris. It was never a single style. A French modern oil painting in that tradition keeps a recognisable subject, a street, a table, a face, but paints it with free brushwork and bold colour. Paris street scenes crowded with small figures belong to that world.

Post-Impressionist and postwar French oil paintings

Colour kept its hold after the Impressionists. Painters of the early 20th century built on their broken touch but added firmer shapes and bolder colour, and a Post-Impressionist style oil painting keeps that double inheritance, light from Impressionism and structure from what came after. After 1945 the same freedom carried on. French painters of the 1950s and 1960s returned to the garden, the table and the racecourse, and a postwar French oil painting often flattens its space and lets colour carry the subject, from a polo match to a vase of flowers.

Signed paintings in oil, gouache and pastel

Most painters of the century signed on the front. Oil on canvas, panel or board makes up most of the collection, with a few signed gouaches and pastels, and some canvases come unframed, ready for a frame of the buyer's choosing.

Shipping is free to the USA and Canada, packed and tracked from France. New to buying old paintings? Start with our guide to How to Collect Antique Paintings.

20th Century French & European Paintings

20th century paintings for sale at GalerieClub

Early 20th century French oil paintings

The School of Paris and French modern painting

Post-Impressionist and postwar French oil paintings

Signed paintings in oil, gouache and pastel

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