Eugène Delecluse French , 1882-1972

Eugène Delécluse was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, born in Paris in 1882. The son of the painter Auguste-Joseph Delécluse, he studied under artists including Fernand Cormon, Paul-Louis Delance, Émile Renard and Charles Albert Waltner. He began exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1903 and later exhibited with the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, receiving an honourable mention for his work as an engraver in 1913.

During the First World War, Delécluse served with the French Army of the Orient and was sent to Salonika, where he produced drawings for L'Illustration. His time in the Balkans provided a rich source of subjects, with numerous drawings and watercolours depicting Salonika, its people and surrounding landscapes.

After the war, Delécluse became particularly associated with portraiture and continued to travel and paint throughout Europe. He also spent extended periods in Brittany, especially around Douarnenez and the Finistère and Morbihan coasts, where he was drawn to fishing ports, maritime life and the everyday activities of local communities. His subjects include landscapes, marine views, figures and scenes of daily life, worked principally in oil and watercolour.

Delécluse died in Villiers-le-Bel in 1972, aged 90. His work remains represented in the secondary market, with Breton landscapes, harbour scenes and views of Montmartre among his frequently encountered subjects.