Charles Levier | Cubist painter

French painter🎨 Charles Levier (1920-2003) was born to a French father and American mother in Corsica.

From an early age, he held a fascination with color and form which led him, at age seventeen, to the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs for private studies.
During World War II, Levier served in the French Army in North Africa, later becoming Liaison Officer with the U.S. Office of Strategic Services.

After the war, Levier divided his time between living in the United States and in France. His first one-man show opened at the Galerie Constantine, in Lyons in 1949, followed by an American debut in Los Angeles in 1950. Levier continued with gallery shows in both France and the United States.

Levier's works are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Paris and the Menton Museum, Paris. In the United States, his work can be found in the permanent collection of the Atlanta Museum, the Seattle Museum, the Evansville Museum, the New Orleans Museum and the San Diego Museum.

His works have been included in the prominent collections of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Adlai Stevenson, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Prince and Princess Poniatoski, Mrs. Dan Topping, Mr. and Mrs. Dean Martin and many others.

Levier is most known for his Abstracted Post-Impressionistic still lifes and cityscapes of harbor towns as well as female studies as seen in "A La Fenetre".

Levier's sense of color abounds in the portrait of a young beauty at a window in the magical city of Venice. The artist's keen use of blue -repeated on several different layers in the oil - is balanced by the sheer complexion of the female model. In a relaxed pose, the sitter holds a signature floral study by Levier in varied shades which complete the relaxed composition.

In many instances, Levier employed a Cubist technique. The line delineation shown in "A La Fenetre" recalls the simple techniques so frequently found in Cubism. Several artists, like Levier, continued to paint in the Cubist manner well into the 20th century.