Offered by Galerie Delvaille
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French furniture of the 18th century & French figurative paintings
Oil on canvas, signed lower left
Circa 1900
Dimensions: H. 38.5 cm x W. 46 cm
Antique giltwood frame: H. 52 cm x W. 60 cm
Eugène Galien-Laloue was born in Montmartre in 1851. At the age of 19, he enlisted in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, during which his passion for drawing was born. Particularly gifted, he was recruited by the French Railway Company to design the routes of the tracks leading from Paris to provincial stations. He then began to paint lively landscapes and Parisian neighborhoods for himself.
Galien-Laloue is known as one of the finest chroniclers of Belle Époque Paris, along with Édouard Cortés and Jean Béraud. In the style of Luigi Loir, Galien-Laloue also excelled in depicting scenes of everyday life in the provinces. He loved to capture the vibrant energy of life with meticulous precision. His backgrounds are wonderfully structured.
In 1877, Galien Laloue exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris, quickly becoming famous and receiving a significant number of commissions. He produced many gouaches and small-format works.
Our painting is an oil on canvas of a relatively large size for the artist. Galien Laloue's oil paintings are sometimes weak, lacking or almost devoid of figures, the very subject for which he became famous; but here, the composition is remarkable, with a diagonal that contrasts two opposing treatments: On one side, the painter has subtly rendered the entrance to the sea and the boats in pastel tones and with minimal impasto; on the other, a crowd of figures bustling around the arrival of fish is depicted with thick impasto and bold colors. This painting by Galien Laloue is a precious record of the Norman population around 1900, and of Trouville as it was over a century ago.
The condition of the work is remarkable. We removed the yellowed varnish and revealed the original colors intact on the canvas. The stretcher is also original, and the painting shows no signs of restoration. The lovely giltwood frame is antique and has been perfectly restored.
