Georges-Marcel BURGUN

Whilst searching for watercolours by Juliette Bompard I came across this oil painting of the Tour de Marmande by Georges-Marcel BURGUN.  It was listed on an online auction site www.drouot.com  but there was no indication of when the auction had taken place just that it had taken place at Chinon. The Tour de Marmande is in the neighbouring commune of Velleches and is visible from Oiré. Could it be that Georges-Marcel BURGUN was friends with the Pierre and Juliette BOMPARD and stayed with them at some time? So far I have found out very little about him. What I have discovered comes from the Univers des Arts website.

http://www.universdesarts.com/biographie/1110/burgun-georges-marcel.html

"Burgun Georges-Marcel

Pays : France

Style : ecole française

Période : XIXe siècle

1875-1964, peintre et graveur. Burgun est tout d'abord apprenti chez un peintre et lithographe animalier, Adolphe Millot, puis devient élève, très peu de temps, à l’École des Arts Décoratifs, puis étudie avec Émile Jaque, peintre de l'école de Barbizon. Compagnon de Maximilien Luce, il compte parmi ses relations Alfred Boucher, et Henri Matisse, qui vit et travaille dans une propriété voisine entre 1909 et 1917. Il peint des paysages lumineux et colorés qu'il expose au Salon des Indépendants et au Salon d'Automne à partir de 1903. La Galerie Bernheim Jeune, organise, en 1935, une exposition particulière."

(1875-1964), painter and engraver. Burgun was first apprenticed to an animal painter and lithographer, Adolphe Millot, then became a student, for a very short time, at the School of Decorative Arts, then studied with Émile Jaque, painter from the Barbizon school. Companion of Maximilien Luce, he counts among his relations Alfred Boucher, and Henri Matisse, who lived and worked in a neighbouring property between 1909 and 1917. He painted luminous and colourful landscapes which he exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d'Automne from 1903. The Galerie Bernheim Jeune organized, in 1935, a special exhibition.

From this information we can see that Georges-Marcel BURGUN was a friend of Maximillien LUCE and if we look back at the friends Pierre BOMPARD listed in his book we find Maximillien LUCE amongst them. So they would probably have had many acquaintances in common as well as both being members of the  Salon des Indépendants.  

So I think it quite probable that Burgun visited Bompard at Oiré and during his stay chose to paint Tour de Marmande. I have so far found no other reason for him to have a connection to the region and for the moment I think that this is the most reasonable conclusion.  Bompard's painting, L'etable was exhibited in 1928 and perhaps Burgun's Tour de Marmande was produced at the same time.