Pierre Hodé

Autodidact, Hodé is subject successively to the influences of impressionism, Cézanne and especially cubism which inspires his style, a combination of very colored geometrical figures.

Honfleur, barques au port, 1922 Private Collection

He was born in Normandy which always was his favorite area to paint. He becomes secretary of the Société normande de Peinture moderne (Company of modern painting of Normandy).

In Paris he lives with his friend and compatriot Pierre Dumont in the Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre where he is Juan Gris’ neighbor (Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and him were called the Three Musketeer of Cubism. In the 1920s, Gris designed costumes and scenery for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes).

He takes part in the Salon de la Section d’Or (a large group exhibition of artists identified with Cubism, held 10–30 October 1912 at the Galerie la Boëtie, Paris), exhibits at the Salon d’Automne and at the Salon des Indépendants. He also paints stage sets and ornamental panels.

In his last period, the bucolic poetry of his Normandy native soil as well as the melancholy of Rouen harbor, replace the neo-cubist theories.

Reference

Gérald Schurr, 1820-1920, Les Petits Maîtres de la Peinture, Valeur de Demain. Published by Les Editions de l’Amateur. Volume 1, p.55