Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola (November 14, 1871 - March 29, 1950) was a French painter.

Biography

He was a student of Fernand Cormon

Fernand Cormon

Fernand Cormon was a French painter born in Paris. He became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel, Eugène Fromentin, and Jean-François Portaels, and one of the leading historical painters of modern France....

 at the École des beaux-arts de Paris

École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts

The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...

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Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola was a pastel

Pastel

Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....

ist, remarkable for his silky, velvety and smooth style.

"Making his only aesthetic concern accuracy of the most naked kind" (E. Benézit), he left an extensive body of work including scenes of alcoves, landscapes, flowers and society portraits. However his Symbolist-inspired works are particularly esteemed. He exhibited at the Salon des artistes français.

He was a member of the Société des Pastellistes Français and the Comité de la Société des beaux-arts de Paris. Made an Officer of the Légion d'honneur

Légion d'honneur

The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

 in 1914.

Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola is considered to be one of the inventors of military camouflage

Military camouflage

Military camouflage is one of many means of deceiving an enemy. In practice, it is the application of colour and materials to battledress and military equipment to conceal them from visual observation. The French slang word camouflage came into common English usage during World War I when the...

 for his establishment of the Section de Camouflage (Camouflage Department) during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

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Works

• Le Château de Versailles (exhibited at the de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1920)
• Portrait du Marquis de Massa (exhibited at the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1908)
• Portrait de Mlle W. (exhibited at the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1909)
• Cour d'honneur (exhibited at the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1909)
• Portrait de Mlle Tiane (exhibited at the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1911)
• Portrait de M. Pierre Lafitte
  Pierre Lafitte
  Pierre Lafitte was a pirate in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He also ran a blacksmith shop in New Orleans, his legitimate business. Pierre was the historically less-well-known older brother of Jean Lafitte...
  
   (exhibited at the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1912)
• Aïda Boni, de l'Opéra (exhibited at the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1913)
• Portrait de Mme V. G. (exhibited at the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1910)
• Mme Fournials
• M. Severin sur son lit de mort
• Portrait du général Fayolle
  Marie Émile Fayolle
  Marie Émile Fayolle was a Marshal of France.Fayolle studied at the École polytechnique, where he graduated with the class of 1873. During his career he served in the artillery. From 1897 to 1908 he taught artillery at the École supérieure de Guerre...