GUSTAVE LINO

Biography

Gustave Lino was born in Mulhouse on October 27, 1893. Adolescent, he often visits the museum of the city and is interested in painting. In 1912, at only 19 years old, he went to Marseille and discovered the particular light of Provence. Without anyone knowing why, he embarks for Algiers. In 1914, the war broke out. Lino is of German nationality. It is for this reason that he is incarcerated in Corsica at the convent of Corbara. He learns painting alongside a fellow countryman. He paints many paintings and decorates the hotel Solferino d'Ajaccio and the castle of Malaspena-Massa in Belgodère.

At the end of the war, he returns to Algiers. He follows the courses of Georges Rochegrosse. Particularly talented, he exhibites in Paris in Salons and galleries, such as the Salon des Artistes French from 1926 and the Danton Gallery, rue La Boétie in 1927.

To perfect his training, he then undertakes a long stay in Spain where he studies chiaroscuro. Back in Algeria, he travels the north and the great south of Algeria (Laghouat, Touggourt, El Oued among others ...). He is very interested in Albert Marquet's painting, which particularly seduces him. This clarity while transparency, this harmony of lines and tones becomes his ideal of perfection. He specializes in still lifes, Algerian landscapes and seascapes.

He leaves Algiers for Bou-Saada. After the Second World War, Lino makes several trips. In Tunisia, where he is gone for a few days, he spends six months in Sidi-Bou-Saïd, crunching every corner of the city, seizing the habits of the inhabitants. He will also spend six months in the Balearic Islands and later in Mallorca. He returns to Corsica long after his internment and travels the island for several months. In 1954, he spends a few weeks in Venice and the works are the opportunity of an exhibition that is a real success.

Very close to the group called "Painters of Poetic Reality" (Maurice Brianchon, Christian Caillard, Jules Cavaillès, Raymond Legueult, Roger Limouse, Roland Oudot, André Planson and Kostia Terechkovitch.), close friend of Albert Marquet (Marcelle Marquet will say from him that "he succeeded Marquet better than Marquet himself"). Also appreciative, Albert Camus said of Gustave Lino (at the Salon of Algerian artists of 1934): "His Marines, if we feel the influence of Marquet, are nonetheless true successes, sensitive, fresh and of one coming ". All this in respect of this artistic movement which, as writes E. Cazenave: "to an Orientalism dreamed artists of Algeria oppose a lived orientalism". His palette is particularly colorful, often linear, with a predilection for blues, taking as a subject all the towns and villages visited.