Georges Dayez - Toledo the Ravie of the Degollada

Color etching on handmade paper, hand signed and numbered 59/60. Image size 29.5 x 19.8 cm, paper size 47 x 33 cm.
Georges Dayez (1907-1991) received a traditional French education and was introduced to drawing and painting. He completed the first part of his baccalaureate in 1924. Much to his father's displeasure, Dayez interrupted his studies to take up oil painting. In 1925, he took an evening drawing class with the sculptor Henry Arnold. Dayez performed his compulsory military service from 1927 to 1929. He was given special permission to take an evening class at the studio of Robert Wlérick, where he met Edouard Pignon. In addition to the art class, the army gave Dayez leave to paint in Brittany. Discharged from military service in 1929, Dayez moved to his first home in Paris. Pignon moved to nearby Billancourt, and the two young artists painted together, studied art, and visited museums. In 1931, Dayez and Pignon traveled around the Côte d'Azur. The following year, both artists exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants. Dayez and Pignon joined forces with Henri Barbusse, painters Hélion and Herbin, sculptor Adam, the October Group, as well as writers Dabit and Nizan, and poets Aragon and Eluard to form l'Association des Ecrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires (AEAR). The aim of the organization was to create an art form that conveyed the struggles of the working class. The aim of the collective was to address the rise of fascism and the threat of war. With the outbreak of World War II, Dayez joined the French 58th Infantry Division; he was stationed north of Metz. In 1941, Dayez met the French artist André Lhote, who had a major influence on the development of his work. From 1944, Dayez exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons. In the 1950s he exhibited at the Musée de Grenoble and the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, as well as another exhibition in Munich. Dayez exhibited numerous solo exhibitions of his work in the 1950s and 1960s. The cities where he exhibited include; New York, Lausanne, Nancy, Oslo, Amsterdam, Lyon, Avignon, Milan and Madrid. During the 1951-52 academic year, Dayez taught at the Académie d'André Lhote. In 1967 he was appointed professor at the Atelier de Lithographie de l'École des Beaux-Arts de Paris. Dayez traveled extensively during this period. He visited Italy, Greece and the United States. Dayez's work can be found in the collections of numerous museums, including: La Chaux-de-Fonds, Gothenburg, Tolède, Le Havre, Luxembourg, Finland, Paris, Skopje and Tokyo.