Jean Chaleyé

Jean Chaleyé (born Jean-Baptiste Chaleyé, 22 April 1878 – 24 February 1960), known as Joannès Chaleyé, was a French painter and lace designer. Trained in the flower-painting class of the École des beaux-arts de Lyon and in the studio of Fernand Cormon at the École des beaux-arts in Paris, he exhibited at the Salon des artistes français from 1902 and became known for his flower still lifes and for landscapes of the Velay. The Musée Crozatier in Le Puy-en-Velay holds a body of his paintings, of his lace cartoons and of lace made after his designs, several of them referenced in Joconde, the collections database of the French Ministry of Culture, and the French State's fine-arts administration, the Bureau des travaux d'art, opened files for the commission or purchase of his works in 1923 and in 1929. A retrospective of his work was held in 1978 at the Orangerie du Sénat, the orangery of the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.

Chaleyé also played a leading part in the twentieth-century revival of French handmade lace. Sent to Le Puy-en-Velay in 1903 to organise the artistic teaching of bobbin lace, he renewed its design repertoire, and lace made after his drawings won awards at international exhibitions, including a gold medal at the Franco-British Exhibition in London (1908) and a grand prix at the Brussels International Exposition (1910). He directed the École nationale supérieure des arts et industries textiles in Roubaix from 1930 to 1939 and founded the departmental conservatory of handmade lace in Le Puy-en-Velay in 1942. He was appointed a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by decree of 7 May 1921, on the report of the Minister of Public Instruction, and promoted to Officier in 1937.