Painter. He was a French-born British painter, who gained recognition not only for his painting but for being an art educator. After studying art in St Etienne, Lyon and Bordeaux, Adolphe Valette moved first to London, where he studied briefly at Birkbeck College, and then in 1904 to Manchester. He worked in label design at Norbury Natzio and Company, and studied at Manchester Municipal School of Art. His talent was recognised, and in 1906 he was appointed to the staff of the School. His impressionist views of Manchester and portraits of his first wife Gabriela are considered to be his most significant paintings. Several of his works are in the collection of Manchester Art Gallery, and others are in private collections. He was one of the founders of the Society of Modern Painters in 1912. Exhibitions of his work were held in Liverpool and Manchester. Among his pupils were L. S. Lowry, Edgar Rowley Smart, Arthur Henry Knighton-Hammond, Kathleen Hale, Harry Yearsley, H. Clarence Whaite, Emmanuel Levy, Karl Hagedorn and David Ghilchick. A blue plaque on the School of Art Building commemorates his teaching there. In 1920, as a result of ill health, he resigned his post at the School of Art, but later taught at Manchester University and Bolton Municipal School of Art. He returned to France in 1928, and continued to paint mainly in the Beaujolais region until his death. He was a founder member of the Association des Artistes Forézien in 1930, and exhibited in Lyon and St Etienne. Originally interred in Lyon, he was reburied in 1943.
Painter. He was a French-born British painter, who gained recognition not only for his painting but for being an art educator. After studying art in St Etienne, Lyon and Bordeaux, Adolphe Valette moved first to London, where he studied briefly at Birkbeck College, and then in 1904 to Manchester. He worked in label design at Norbury Natzio and Company, and studied at Manchester Municipal School of Art. His talent was recognised, and in 1906 he was appointed to the staff of the School. His impressionist views of Manchester and portraits of his first wife Gabriela are considered to be his most significant paintings. Several of his works are in the collection of Manchester Art Gallery, and others are in private collections. He was one of the founders of the Society of Modern Painters in 1912. Exhibitions of his work were held in Liverpool and Manchester. Among his pupils were L. S. Lowry, Edgar Rowley Smart, Arthur Henry Knighton-Hammond, Kathleen Hale, Harry Yearsley, H. Clarence Whaite, Emmanuel Levy, Karl Hagedorn and David Ghilchick. A blue plaque on the School of Art Building commemorates his teaching there. In 1920, as a result of ill health, he resigned his post at the School of Art, but later taught at Manchester University and Bolton Municipal School of Art. He returned to France in 1928, and continued to paint mainly in the Beaujolais region until his death. He was a founder member of the Association des Artistes Forézien in 1930, and exhibited in Lyon and St Etienne. Originally interred in Lyon, he was reburied in 1943.
Bio by: Tim Chapman
Gravesite Details
Originally interred in Lyon, he was reburied here in 1943.
