Emilie CHARMY (1877-1874), Summer at Marnat

Oil on cardboard. 33 x 27 cm. Signed lower left. With frame.

The painting Summer in Marnat by Émilie Charmy, a French artist associated with Fauvism, reflects the period when she spent summers in the village of Marnat in Auvergne, alongside her partner Georges Bouche. This work belongs to a series of landscapes created in this locale, which became for Charmy a true artistic and intimate retreat. This work probably dates from the years 1912-1915.

The composition is marked by a juxtaposition of simplified forms and bold colors. A pink-toned wall, bathed in sunlight, dominates the left side, contrasting with the lush vegetation on the right, rendered in a palette of deep greens and vibrant blues. The sky in the background is painted with thick strokes, characteristic of the Fauvist style, lending the scene an almost tactile vitality. A dark fence in the foreground structures the scene without weighing it down, enhancing the spontaneity of the artist’s vision.

Charmy does not aim to faithfully reproduce reality, but to convey an impression—a summery atmosphere imbued with warmth and serenity. Her painting stands out for its generous impasto and free use of color, moving away from naturalism toward a form of lyrical abstraction. This approach, shaped by her connections with Fauvist circles, reveals a distinctive sensitivity: nature is celebrated not for its detailed depiction, but for its evocative power.

Summer in Marnat thus illustrates Émilie Charmy’s desire to break away from academic conventions by offering a personal vision of the landscape, where color and brushwork become the true subjects of the painting. In doing so, she asserts a bold modernity, situated at the crossroads of Fauvism and the beginnings of abstraction.

In 1898, Émilie Charmy left Saint-Étienne to settle in Lyon with her brother Jean, where she studied under the painter Jacques Martin. She exhibited for the first time in Paris in 1903, at the Salon des Indépendants, and moved with her brother to Saint-Cloud in 1904. She specialized in still life painting, regularly exhibiting at the Indépendants between 1903 and 1914 (except in 1910), and at the Salon d’Automne from 1905 to 1912. Charmy also took part in several group exhibitions at Berthe Weill’s gallery.

It was during these exhibitions—featuring artists such as Matisse and Girieud—that she met her future partner Charles Camoin in 1906. Together, they traveled to the Mediterranean in the summer of that year. From 1904 to 1912, she mainly produced still lifes, landscapes, and figures with well-structured forms.

In 1912, as her relationship with Camoin deteriorated, she met Georges Bouche, whom she joined in Auvergne that summer. Her landscapes began to evolve: she used flat areas of green and brisk brushstrokes to depict trees, creating compositions with shallow depth. Though her financial situation remained modest, critic Louis Vauxcelles described her in 1921 as “one of the most remarkable women artists of our time” (L’Éclair, June 23, 1921).