JAN. 27 1919 > JAN. 27 2019 : CENTENNIAL OF LEON DELACHAUX’S DEATH

Celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of Léon Delachaux’s death also means paying tribute to the places he inhabited. The painter spent the longest periods of time in Montmartre and Saint-Amand-Montrond (Cher). His passage is now etched in stone.

Léon Delachaux, “Autoportrait au manteau” (detail),
circa 1885, black chalk. Private collection.

On September 21, 2019, under the autumn sun, the Endowment Fund inaugurated a commemorative plaque marking Léon Delachaux’s home-studio at 65 avenue Jean-Jaurès in Saint-Amand-Montrond, where the artist lived on a regular basis from 1900 to 1919. There to unveil the plaque in unison were Madame Menonville, the property’s current owner; Thierry Vinçon, mayor of Saint-Amand-Montrond; Marie Delachaux, President of the Léon Delachaux Endowment Fund and Guillaume Delachaux, her brother and the artist’s great-grandson. After the ceremony, the Saint-Vic museum hosted a cocktail party among its holding of sixteen works by Léon Delachaux.

Quelques toiles de Léon Delachaux au Musée Saint-Vic de Saint-Amand-Montrond

Musée Saint-Vic de Saint-Amand-Montrond

Plaque commémorative posée sur la façade du 65, avenue Jean-Jaurès, Saint Amand-Montrond

L’équipe du Fonds de Dotation Léon Delachaux, Thierry Vinçon (maire de Saint-Amand-Montrond), Jeanne Andrivon (directrice du musée Saint-Vic), Madame Menonville (propriétaire de la maison) et Guillaume Delachaux (frère de Marie Delachaux et arrière-petit-fils de l’artiste)

Dévoilement de la plaque par Madame Menonville, Thierry Vinçon, Marie Delachaux et Guillaume Delachaux

On September 28, 2019, the Fund placed a plaque at 20 rue Durantin in Montmartre, this time commemorating Léon Delachaux’s Parisian sojourn. It is here, just a few steps from the Bateau Lavoir, that Léon and Pauline settled in 1888, enabling their only son Clarence to pursue his studies at the lycée Chaptal. Delachaux joined Montmartre’s bohemian community, mingling with Guido Sigriste, Luigi Chialiva, friend of Edgar Degas, and François Guiguet. The family remained attached to Montmartre, alternating between Saint-Amand-Montrond until Delachaux’s death in 1919.

Avant d'être posée sur la façade du 20 rue Durantin, à Montmartre

Marie Delachaux, présidente du Fonds de Dotation Léon Delachaux

Dévoilement de la plaque posée sur la façade du 20 rue Durantin

Façade du 20 rue Durantin, à Montmartre

La famille Delachaux et les élus du XVIIIe arrondissement de Paris

Léon Delachaux is now part of the public sphere. This would not have been possible without the help and benevolence of the Musée Saint-Vic team, the properties’ owners, officials and their deputies in charge of cultural affairs. Once again, we would like to thank them warmly.

Photography : © Cécile Burban

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