Rating and value of paintings by Jean Puy

If you own a work by or based on the artist Jean Puy and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will guide you.

Our specialists will carry out a free appraisal of your work, and provide you with a precise estimate of its value on the current market.

Then, should you wish to sell your work, we'll direct you to the best possible arrangement to obtain the optimum price.

Rating and value of the artist

On the art market, works by Jean Puy are fairly common. Associated with the Fauvist group, works from this movement are the most sought-after by 20th-century collectors, especially those depicting nature.

Equally prized, his works that are not categorized as Fauvist can fetch tens of thousands of euros at auction.  Jean Puy's works sell for between €70 and €88,420 on the art market, a substantial range but one that speaks volumes about the value that can be attributed to these works.

In 2014, his oil on canvas Standing Nude sold for €77,000 while it was estimated at between €20,000 and €25,000, suggesting significant upside potential for his works.   

Order of value from the most basic to the most prestigious

The artist's style and technique

Jean Puy's works are characterized by synthetic, pared-down compositions (i.e., the horizon line is drawn at the height of the painting), a sacrifice of detail and a simplification of light. 

The link between color and light is established through the flat color or the fragmented brushstroke, which spaces out to leave the canvas in reserve. This presence of the reserve in the painting is intended to evoke light and its dazzling effect on the viewer in a sparing manner. He is an essential member of the Fauvist group.

Jean Puy established himself as a bold colorist, adopting a bright, vivid palette characteristic of the Fauvists, but never falling into a brutal exaggeration of color. His hues remain harmonious, with subtle contrasts preserving the softness and balance of his compositions.

The artist's touch is fluid and spontaneous, his brushwork free, his brushstrokes visible and expressive, bringing a sense of movement and life to his subjects. Puy is far from seeking excessive detail, favoring a more instinctive approach, enabling him to capture the essence of a scene in a few strokes.

Although he is a Fauvist, there is a not inconsiderable postimpressionist influence in Jean Puy's work, which retains a sensibility inherited from Impressionism, especially in the treatment of light and atmosphere.

He thus plays with light variations and reflection effects, bringing depth to his landscapes and interior scenes. This method is complemented by a supple, uncluttered drawing style; his compositions are structured with simple, sinuous lines, reinforced by a light outline that remains assertive.
The subjects he depicts are often imbued with gentleness and a certain intimacy, as he favors depictions of everyday life, portraits and female nudes, which are often treated with tenderness.

As a result, his works exude a peaceful atmosphere, bordering on melancholy, which contrasts with the chromatic intensity - the signature of fauvism.

His own fauvism is more nuanced, defined by the color and light that dominate without ever overwhelming the sensitivity of the subject. His canvases, which are both expressive and delicate, are part of a measured modernity, never imposing themselves as a total break with the past. These small subtleties make him one of the most poetic artists of the Fauvist movement.

Jean Puy, forgotten figure of Fauvism

Jean Puy (1876-1960) is a 20th-century Fauvist painter.

Born into a family of industrialists from the Loire region, he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon and then at the Académie Julian, where he learned to paint in the studios of Gustave Moreau and Eugène Carrière. He was part of the Salle VII scandal, along with Camoin, Derain, Matisse and others in 1905.

Initially influenced by pointillism, he soon turned to fauvism. As his career progressed, he used increasingly warmer shades of color and made his compositions more complex. Following his exhibitions at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Indépendants, Berthe Weil took him under her wing.

Ambroise Vollard, the famous Fauvist dealer, agreed to sell his paintings - success naturally followed. Through his assistance, the collector Shchukin acquires some of his paintings.

After the Second World War, he moves away from Fauvism to seek balance in compositions and work more on the transmission of emotions.

He dies in 1960, aged 83, in the town of his birth.

He dies in 1960, aged 83, in the town of his birth.

He dies in 1960, aged 83, in the town of his birth.

Focus on Femme lisant, Jean Puy

Femme lisant by Jean Puy depicts a young woman seated indoors, a book in hand. The light is soft, illuminating the protagonist's face as well as the room around her, creating a peaceful, intimate atmosphere characteristic of Jean Puy's work.

Warm colors dominate, materializing in tones of ochre, pink and pastel blue - which respond harmoniously.

In this painting, his Fauvism is characterized as soothing, tempering his use of bright colors, thus using them to soften the mood. Chromatic harmony is paramount with Jean Puy, the hues not imposing themselves as pure, or more colloquially as garish, but subtly juxtaposed to create a sense of calm and interiority.

His touch is fluid and expressive, the brushstrokes remaining highly visible, giving an impression of spontaneity and lightness. The rendering of the face is both sketchy and precise, capturing a moment of concentration without ever freezing the figure.

The light is diffused and enveloping, Puy not seeking to sculpt the light with violent contrasts, but rather to melt and blur the light throughout the painting. The softness of the light thus reinforces the serenity of the scene and highlights the subject without harshness.

The Impressionist influence present in many of the artist's paintings is felt here, as the artist manages to capture a moment of individuality with great sensitivity, joining the Impressionists' technique on this point.

The absence of the viewer's gaze, deliberately chosen by the painter, reinforces the impression of a closed universe, where the woman is immersed in her own world.

In this painting, Jean Puy succeeds in combining the freedom of Fauvism with an almost Impressionist softness. The painterly touch, the color and the light are at the service of an everyday scene that is imbued with tranquility and elegance.

Jean Puy's imprint on his period

Jean Puy made a lasting mark on his period, notably with the scandal of Salle VII, which introduced the pictorial and artistic upheavals that took place in the 20th century.

Today, many of his works are exhibited in museums in France and around the world, but collectors play the greatest role in the preservation of his work.

He established himself as a discreet but essential Fauve, belonging to the select circle of the first alongside Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck and Manguin, contributing to the movement's fame and growth from 1905. His more measured approach to Fauvism, with its emphasis on chromatic harmony and soft forms, shows another side of the movement, one that is less brutal, but no less innovative.

Puy thus bridges the gap between tradition and modernity in the first milestones of modern painting, fusing Impressionist heritage with the boldness of Fauvist colors. In this way, he struck a balance between structure and spontaneity.

Through his work, Jean Puy demonstrated that Fauvism was not simply an explosion of vivid colors applied in broad flat tints, but that this movement could also easily and simply translate a search for refinement and elegance.

His influence is discreet but enduring, and his art inspires with its ability to transcribe intimate scenes with a luminous palette and fluid brushstrokes. Through his work, he influenced artists who, like him, sought to reconcile the modernity of color with a softer approach to the human figure.

He was a key player in the avant-garde of the early 20th century, his participation in the 1905 Salon d'Automne triggering a decisive break with academic canons, opening up the field of possibilities for the many artistic explorations that were to take place in his century.  

The artist's signature

Not all of Jean Puy's works are signed.

Although there are variations, here is a first example of his signature :

Expertise your property

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