Pierre Valette  has been called a pioneer of Impressionism – the ‘Monet of Manchester.’Several of his striking paintings are on display at the Manchester City Art gallery. While he often paints a grimy and often damp Manchester, he does so with grace and beauty.

Oxford Road , 1911. (Valette)

Pierre Adolphe Valette (1876 – 1942) was born in St Etienne in central France in 1876, and studied at Bordeaux. In 1905 he settled in Manchester and in 1907 joined the staff of the Manchester Municipal School of Art, in Cavendish Street, now part of the All Saints Campus of the Metropolitan University. Some of his paintings of the area around All Saints are particularly memorable.

Valette’s style of teaching was, at that time, different from his colleagues. He taught by actively demonstrating to his pupils. One of his pupils was particularly taken with his style – the famous Salford…