E. Charles Rene-His (1877-1955)

A painter of figurative subjects, flower paintings, river landscapes and marine scenes, E C Rene-His was born 15th February 1877. He as a pupil of the well known artists Jules Lefebvre, T Robert-Fleury and Henry Biva all of whom were most successful in their own individual right.

He became a member of the Society of French Artists in 1900 having previously received an honourable mention there in 1898 and subsequently a Medal of the Third Class in 1900 and honourable mention at the Universal Exhibition in the same year.

Charles Rene-His travelled throughout France during his life painting landscapes, often in Provence and on the smaller French tributaries and rivers and he is also known to have made several trips to Algeria where he painted the local people and the occasional marine subject. However, from the turn of the century he painted some of his best work having become something of a recluse. 

He took little interest in public exhibitions as such although he is known to have painted some large exhibition canvases which were shown in the French Salon before his death. His greatest and best works were the paintings that he painted in the hidden and quiet backwaters of the little French rivers that he used to find and paint with great detail and observation. Throughout his life his style little changed and he really was a relic of the 19th Century. The abstract and impressionist painters passed him by. In many ways he was out of kilter with other artists of his generation.  However, one looks back at his life now and views his work with delight. 

He became an expert in the portrayal of light and shade on water and reflection and one of the finest painters of trees in their naturalness in the whole of France. As a result he became world famous for this particular type of subject and has influenced many artists both in England and throughout Europe ever since. 

After his death his studio contents were finally sold to E. Stacy-Marks Limited and an exhibition in 1976 was mounted by the Gallery of some 45 paintings some two years later. It transpired that Rene-His had been selling his lesser works throughout his life for his income and had actually kept his best works until he died. Some of the most important Exhibition paintings from the Salon and his greatest masterpieces remained in his studio and were only showed publicly, in some cases for the first time in thirty years at the retrospective exhibition held by E. Stacy-Marks Limited which sold out in the first week. 
His paintings were bought and hung during his lifetime, so highly regarded was he, by the museums in Cahors, Constantine, Charleville, Senlis and D'Avallon.