Joseph Paul MESLÉ (1855-1927) The Church of Chamigny oil on cardboard, signed lower left 32.5 x 41 cm Joseph Paul Meslé (1855-1927) Born January 25, 1855 in Saint-Servan, near Saint- Malo, His gifts for drawing were so obvious that the young boy was sent to the School of Fine Arts in Rennes. In 1875 Meslé left for the Beaux-Arts in Paris with a letter of recommendation from Jean François Millet (1814-1875), a brilliant student, a hard worker and conscientious, in participating in the salon of 1880. Ten years later he left the French artists to join in 1892, Rodin, Puvis d Chavannes, the splitters of the National Society of Fine Arts. Meslé moved to Reins in the years 1881-1882, he quickly became a renowned portrait painter, in 1890 he married Yacinthe Bremontier. Iles moved to Jaulgonne located along the Marne, between Dormans and Château-Thierry, a few kilometers from his colleague, Léon Lhermitte (1844-1925). In 1896 the couple moved to Chamigny. Very concerned by the pictorial movements of his time, he heard the cry of the beasts, exhibited with the “neo-impressionists of Lagny, frequented Lhermitte and the painters of Luzancy, Bouché and Massé. In Chamigny, Meslé will lavish his advice on an enthusiastic young man, an accomplished violinist and mad about painting; André Planson (1898-1981). Meslé was successful, his paintings sold well in France and the United States, he exhibited at the Galerie Georges Petit, in 1925 Americans bought his entire stock of paintings. Meslé died suddenly on June 20, 1927. Public collections: Museum of Fine Arts in Reins Museum of Fine Arts in Rennes Museum of Saint-Malo Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris Fabre Museum in Montpellier Briard Museum in Jouarre City Hall of Chamigny
