André and Berthe Noufflard

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Prize Noufflard

The biennial prize awards a young figurative artist, no older the 45 years of age, painting in oils.

Biography


Berthe Langweil Noufflard - Painter - 1886-1971


1886 1886 Birth of Berthe July 5th in Paris. Mme Langweil, left alone with two little girls succeeds in making her antique shop of far eastern art into one of Paris' artistic centres. Among the regular visitors were friends of the family, Henri Rivière, Jacques-Emile Blanche, Alexis Rouart.
1904
1905
First paintings
Student of Jacques-Emile Blanche
1907 Paintings exhibited at the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts and the Salon d'Automne.
1910 Studies at the Grande Chaumière School with Lucien Simon at the same time as André Noufflard


André Noufflard - Painter - 1885-1968


1885 1885 Birth of André January 18th in Florence of a French father and Italian mother. Lives in Italy. Vacations in Normandy
1897 André loses his father at the age of 12. Studies at the Galileo secondary school-Florence. Later as a boarder at the Ciccognini college-Prato.
1901
1909
Studies in Rome and Perugia.
Chooses Italian nationality
1907 1907 Studies drawing and etching (Simi Studio-Florence)
1910 Sojourn with his sister and brother-in-law (Florence and Elie Halévy) at Sucy-en-Brie near Paris. Studies painting at the Grande Chaumière School. Introduced to Jacques-Emile Blanche.


Marriage of André and Berthe April 27th in Paris.


1911 Honeymoon in Cornwall (GB). Apartment in Paris rue Las Cases. André takes Berthe for the first time to his beloved home in Normandy, Fresnay-le-Long, (Seine-Maritime) property of the Noufflard family since 1750 which from 1920 became both a haven and an unending source of inspiration. Frequent trips to the Alps, Italy, Alsace….
1913 Purchase of a property (Broncigliano) near Florence where they often stayed until 1919 when they moved definitively to Paris. Property sold in 1922.
1914 Mme Langweil (Berthe's mother) buys a large mansion rue de Varenne, which later becomes almost as important as Fresnay in their lives.
1915 André is inducted as an officer (telegraphist) in the Italian army and does not paint for several years; participating in numerous campaigns and the retreat from Caporetto. Birth of their first daughter, Henriette. Berthe continues to paint and also makes dolls.
1916 1916 Exhibition of Berthe's dolls at the Museum of Arts Décoratifs -Paris. Organisation and presentation by Henri Rivière. in the absence of Mme Noufflard.
1919 1919 Demobilization from the Italian army. The Noufflards return to Paris and settle at the rue de Varenne. André immediately resumes painting. Berthe and André exhibit at the Grand Palais, including two of André's landscapes of Mosciano (1914). Sojourn in Brittany.
1920 Birth of their second daughter, Geneviève. Henceforth they will spend at least one half of each year at the family home in Normandy (Fresnay-le-Long).
1920
1922
The idea of creating a marionette theatre to perform Marivaux's Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard begins to take shape but only becomes a reality in March of 1922. André designs and creates the masculine characters while Berthe creates the female characters and all of the costumes.
1922 The Touring Club de France commissions regional dolls from Berthe. The two painters both work at Fresnay and during numerous voyages: Provence , Italy, Auvergne, Savoy, Tyrol, England.
1924 1924 February 14th-27th exhibition of André's paintings, Berthe's paintings and dolls, Simonson Gallery-Paris
1925 1925 The Noufflards make the acquaintance at Majano (near Florence) of Miss Paget , an English writer known by the pseudonym of Vernon Lee, and friend of Mme Duclaux (Mary Robinson) who visits them each summer at Fresnay until her death.
1926 February 1st - 27th exhibition - Landscapes of Italy and Provence by André Noufflard. Hector Brame Gallery, Boulevard Malesherbes - Paris
1927 Wishing to have nothing to do with Fascism, André is reinstated as a French citizen and does not return to Italy for many years. February 7th - March 5th exhibition - André's landscapes and portraits by Berthe. Brame Gallery.
1931 Tea at the home of Alexandre Benois. The Noufflards become fast friends with this great painter, one of the creators of the Ballets Russes' sets and costumes.
1933 André goes to Vaison-la-Romaine to paint with Henri Rivière..
1934 In May he participates in an exhibition of French painters in Italy. Bernheim Gallery-Paris.(with Vuillard, Denis, Blanche…)
1935 1935 In January Berthe participates in the exhibition"Qui fera mon portrait"? (Who will do my portrait?). Guy Steyn Gallery. Exhibition in May at the Brame Gallery.
1935
1936
Visit to London for the Chinese art exhibition where Mme Langweil exposes her marvellous " golden screen " presently at the Rijksmuseum-Amsterdam. Sojourn at Galtür - Tyrol. Return to Italy for the last time before the war.
1936 1936 André joins Henri Rivière in Provence to paint with him. He also paints with the young Heini Waser in the region of Paris.
1937 1937 Berthe is commissioned to paint two portraits In London. In June the Noufflards expose works at the Wertheim Gallery - London. August 21st, death of Elie Halévy.
1938 Berthe selects and translates texts by Vernon Lee (Violet Paget ) which she entitled Etudes et reflections sur l'art ( Studies and Thoughts on Art) published by Corrêa. April 29th - May 20th André exhibits "Paysages de neige" ( snow landscapes ) at the Brame Gallery - Paris. Paints with Alexandre Benois in the region of Paris.
1939 Voyage to Geneva to see the exhibition of masterpieces from the Prado.
1940 1940 Once again it is war. The Noufflards spend the winter 1939 - 40 at Fresnay, then escape to the "free zone" : Albi, Peyrat-le-Chateau.
1941 1941 Installation at Toulouse and later at a property ( Le Cireygeol ) in the Dordogne purchased with Mme Langweil. This becomes their principal residence throughout the war and permits them to receive close friends and relatives: Florence Halévy, Rivière, Haguenau, Parodi, Bauer, as well as serving as a hiding place for resistants.
1942 1942 André's mother decides to return to Florence. September 30th death of Jacques-Emile Blanche at Offranville …) Normandy, near Dieppe.
1943 March 13th death of Mme Emilia Noufflard, André's mother, in Florence. When the Germans also occupied the "free zone" the Noufflards and Mme. Langweil left the Dordogne using false identity papers and settled at St. Maurice- lès - Charencey (Orne) where they remained until the liberation.
1944 1944 Return to Paris. Restoration of Fresnay, greatly damaged during the German occupation.
1945 1945 Once again a normal life: painting, travelling, exhibitions. June 15th they exhibit at the Palais de Tokyo - Paris.
1946 André and Berthe support welfare organizations such as: Sauvetage de l'enfance and La Tutélaire. André translates The Life of Michelanglo by his Student and Friend Ascanio Condivi written in 1553. Work published by Floury - Paris in 1949 and awarded a prize by the Académie des Beaux Arts. Fresnay becomes progressively the centre of their lives and work as before the war. Return to Italy and visit to their friend Alexandre Parodi, French Ambassador in Rome.
1947 Berthe invited to stay at the home of Ethel Sands ( London ) and with Sir Humphrey Noble (Northumberland ) to paint portraits.
1948 1948 Through their daughter, Henriette (doctor) they become more closely linked to figures in the medical and scientific world ( René Dubos, Jean Trémolières, Edouard Brissaud…). They were already friendly with Jean Bernard whose wife, Amy, was a close friend of Françoise Halévy. Music had always played an important role in their lives ( Casella, Darius Milhaud, Lazare Lévy, Balbina Braïnina) further enriched thanks to the studies of their daughter, Geneviève, flutist. ( André Marchal, Norbert Dufourcq, Marcel Moyse, Elisabeth Brasseur, Betsy Jolas, Laurence Boulay….)
1949 Visit to Italy.
1951 January 19th - February 3rd exhibition Berthe and André Noufflard at the Durand -Ruel Gallery Avenue Friedland - Paris. Due to illness, Henri Rivière was cared for at the rue de Varenne and subsequently at the home of Henriette at Sucy-en-Brie where he died the 24th of August.
1954 1954 Arrival of the first child of Henriette, Jean.
1955 Arrival of the second child of Henriette, François.
1956 1956 January 19th - February 11th André exhibits Recent works at the Brame Gallery - Paris.
1957 Death of Florence Halévy at Sucy-en-Brie the 18th of November.
1958 1958 Arrival of Henriette's third child, Sylvie. December 22nd death of Mme Langweil at the age of 97.
1959 1959 Restoration of the property rue de Varenne. Exhibition and auction of Mme Langweil's collection according to her last wishes at the Charpentier Gallery - Paris
1960 1960 Death of Alexandre Benois. Last visit to Italy (Asolo ). André Noufflard's health worsens, limiting his artistic activities.
1961 Marriage of Henriette to the painter, Maurice Guy - Loë
1963 Last paintings by André.
1968 May 18th death of André Noufflard which may possibly have been precipitated by the highly distressing events in Paris during this period of social upheaval.
1969 Berthe resumes painting after a long period. Since 1966 she had only completed one portrait. Returns to Florence with Geneviève, however her state of health, already fragile, worsens.
1970 1970 Last portrait
1971 1971 Berthe Noufflard falls seriously ill at Fresnay and on October 11th she dies in Paris.


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