LUCIEN BIVA
Lucien Biva was born into a family of artists in 1878. He studied painting under his father, Henri Biva, early on and later attended the prestigious École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs as well as the École nationale supérieure des Beax-Arts where he focused on painting and interior design.
His father was a well-known Naturalist painter and it became increasing difficult for Lucien to make a name for himself in France, so in 1919 he emigrated the United States. Lucien became an American citizen in 1928, residing mostly in New York City, White Plains and the Catskills from where he drew much of his inspiration. When he was not painting, Lucien worked as an ornamental designer for textile fabrics, patenting over eighty designs with the United States Patent Office, the most famous of which was a refined version of the basic camouflage patent.
As part of his desire to distinguish himself from his father, Lucien used his background in design to create one-of-a-kind frames for all of his artwork. Borrowing elements from French Impressionist and American Arts & Crafts styles, his frames reflected his personal interpretation of their classic designs and were hand-carved and finished to work with each specific painting.