Paul Lemagny , Les Fleurs du Mal, Paris, 1949, Biblioâtres de France, 280/650.
Illustr.: 166 engravings in b/w.
Paul Lemagny (1905-1977), French painter and engraver, was the son of a forester. His early years were spent in a rural and forested environment to which he remained deeply attached throughout his life and which would profoundly influence his work. He then attended the Valenciennes School of Fine Arts for a year, where he discovered engraving with a burin and etching. He achieved his first success in 1928, winning the second Grand Prix de Rome for engraving with Salambô. He resided at the Villa Medici from 1935 to 1938. During this period, he drew numerous landscapes and portraits in the purest classical style. Upon his return from Rome, in June 1939, at the age of 33, he was appointed professor of drawing at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. During the Second World War, he was mobilized into a company tasked with camouflaging many national heritage monuments from enemy aircraft. His conduct earned him the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945. A second period of his work then followed, devoted primarily to illustration, a period he would later judge harshly. During this time, he illustrated more than 28 books, representing over 700 engraved plates, a technique in which he excelled. Paul Lemagny is buried in Sivry-la-Perche. ( Wikipedia )
