FERNAND PINAL 1881-1958

French Postimpressionist Painter

Pinal was born in 1881 at Bruyères-et-Montbérault, a small village in the heart of the Aisne department.  His taste for drawing started at a very early age.  As a child he discovered the landscapes of the Marne River and Orxois.  His father was a civil servant and was in post successively in Gandelu, Charly-sur-Marne and Meaux, which was his last assignment.  Fernand Pinal was an only child and to please his father he became a senior civil servant, but throughout his civil service continued to pursue his painting and engraving. 

Pinal became an illustrator of poetic and musical magazines.  A solid violinist and cellist, he played with different chamber and philharmonic orchestra.  He enjoyed a wide range of activities including speaker, poet, comedian, art critic, restorer of paintings, and gourmet chef.  However, painting and engraving remained the greatest passions of his life, and he was friendly with many painters including Eugène Buland, Gustave Valérian, and Le Sidaner. 

On the 1st of August 1914, he was drafted into the army and sent to Laon in an artillery battalion; because of his small size and near-sightedness he was sent back to Paris to the telephone control commission.  After the first battle of la Marne every time he was on leave, he will go to the Marne valley between Lagny and Meaux to paint.  There were many ruins in the valley and they became his main subject during that time.  The critics of the day named him “the painter of the devastated region”.

He was a member of:  “le Salon des Artistes français”, “la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts du Salon d’Hiver”, and “le comité des aquafortistes français”  Fernand Pinal was faithful to his beloved country and he died October 12th, 1958 in his studio at Romeny-sur-Marne. 

Museums:

• Musée Franco-américain de Blérancourt,
• Musée de Laon,
• Musée Jean de La Fontaine de Château-Thierry,
• Mairie d’Essômes-sur-Marne,
• Mairie de Romeny-sur-Marne,
• Mairie de Charly-sur-Marne,
• Mairie de Saint-Gengoulph,
• Musée Bossuet de Meaux,
• Musée Gatien-Bonnet de Lagny-sur-Marne,
• Musée de Royan, Charente-Maritime,
• Musée de la Ville de Paris.
  
  

  Painting 1: Bord du Lutin à Venoux le matin, 1941
  Painting 2: Bord du Lutin à Venoux, 1941

Text translated from "Les peintres de la vallée de la Marne, autour de l'impressionnisme" by Noël Coret.  Published by Casterman.