André DIGNIMONT - Nude with black shawl - Hand signed watercolour and gouache

André Dignimont : (1891-1965) was a french illustrator, painter and engravor. André Dignimont studied first at the Oratoriens du Collège de Juilly before studying langages in Great Britain. Back in France in 1911, he spent 7 years in the army (3 for military service, 4 during the war). André Dignimont was then the student of Tony Robert-Fleury at the Académie Julian. He then settled in Montmartre, with his friends and fellows Jean-Gabriel Domergue, Roger de la Fresnaye, Louis Marcoussis, Robert Lotiron and André Warnod. His career extends over 4 decades. He worked as much on portraits and feminine nudes (watercolors, drawings, engravings, but never on canvas). He illustrated books, theatre decor, becoming acquainted with painters, writers (Colette, Francis Carco, Pierre Mac Orlan) and actors. Only later Dignimont started getting interested in landscapes, encouraged by André Dunoyer de Segonzac. He illustrated several magazines such as "Le Rire", "Demain", "Monsieur - Revue des élégances, des bonnes manières et de tout ce qui intéresse Monsieur", "Le Crapouillot", "Le Sourire", "Femina", "la Gazette du Bon Ton", "La Guirlande", "Comœdia", "Flirt"... On top of being an illustrator and a painter, he also played secondary roles in the cinema, and was a member of the Cannes Festival jury in 1955. André Dignimont died in Paris in 1965, aged 73.