Louis Faille

Not to be confused with the French architect of the same name, this Louis Faille was born in the town of Vouziers in the northern Ardennes area of France, close to the border with Belgium. Although French by birth, it was in Belgium that he chose to reside and where he enjoyed much of his success. Born in 1878, his first exhibit as a professional artist came at the age of twenty-three when he was invited to show at the Salon Triennal de Namur, a prestigious venue for an artist so young. Other exhibitions followed including participation in the Salon d’Automne in Mons. He was a member of the select art group known as Le Cercle and in conjunction with others in the group showed his work in a landmark exhibition called Le Progres in Namur in 1906.
His paintings are exclusively figural compositions, choosing to paint fine ladies about the town as well as some of the less salubrious nightlife of early twentieth century Belgium. All are handled with a spontaneity and rapidity,
producing images of eternal appeal. Little of his later life is known and in fact his last recorded exhibit came in 1910 when he again showed his work at the Salon Triennal de Namur.
Reference books state that he died in the Namur suburb of Jambes in 1964.