Eugene Leroy (1910-2000). Oil on canvas abstract painting with thick impasto titled “La Bleu Rouge,” 1992. Signed, titled, and dated along the verso. A gallery label from Michael Werner, New York, New York is adhered to the verso. EugËne Leroy spent most of his life in rural France. He briefly studied at the AcadÈmie de la Grande ChaumiËre in Paris, but soon left, feeling that formal education was not right for him. Although he worked steadily from the 1930s through the 1990s, he remained largely unknown until the 1980s, when his works began receiving greater critical attention in France and throughout the world. He is best known for his unique approach to texture, in which his figurative forms are buried under layers and layers of thick, topographical impasto, becoming abstracted as Leroy chose to focus attention on the painting itself instead of its subject. Provenance: Michael Werner Gallery, New York, New York, purchased February 1996; Private collection, Minnesota Note: The proceeds from hammer price will benefit the Minneapolis College of Art and Design Scholarship Fund. Unframed; height: 25 1/2 in x width: 21 1/2 in. Framed; height: 27 in x width: 23 in.