A truly beautiful Oil painting on Canvas of a Farm by a Pond by French Painter Léon Suzanne.
Born in Bolbec, Normandy, in 1870, Léon Suzanne was destined to become a baker like his father, but, very early on, he revealed an incredible talent for drawing.
He nevertheless became a baker’s apprentice, and at the age of 15 left the family home to work in Rouen but used all his spare time to indulge his passion for painting.
At the age of 25, he sent one of his works to a framer, where it aroused the admiration of Joseph Delattre, a painter from Rouen, who was seduced by the talent of this young self-taught artist.
His paint brushes were virgular, capturing the delicate nuances of landscapes, moods, and atmospheres.
As he gained experience, Suzanne’s subject matter thickened, his touch became more assured, his brush more decisive, and his colors took on modern, fauvist accents.
Joseph Delattre soon introduced him to Monet and other Impressionists.
Suzanne moved to Paris in the 1900s and became an illustrator for various publications, but he missed his native Normandy and returned to Rouen, where he exhibited several times at the Legrip gallery.
Faced with financial difficulties and health worries, he retired to the village of Léry, south of Rouen.
There, he would find the calm, the tranquility, but most of all the inspiration that the surrounding countryside, with the Seine running through it, gave him.
When the Second World War broke out, he enlisted immediately and was not demobilized until 1919. He was deeply affected by this period until his death.
In 1920, he presented several highly acclaimed paintings at the Salon des Artistes de Rouen.
A distinguished collector by the name of Samson encouraged him, allowing him to work without material worries and enabled him to complete the work to which, from then on, he gave his all.
Léon Suzanne drew not only advice, but also the criticism and compliments that were invaluable to him. During those long years, he worked despite his illnesses, through his sufferings, with courage and a certain rage, taking breaks during bad weather to head to the library were he would pour over books on the Impressionists.
When success had began to smile down on him, life decided otherwise, and he died in his home in Rouen on April 5, 1923.
The painting presented here is certainly one of the canvases he painted in the pre-war period, when he lived in Léry, Normandy, a the onset of the new century.
It is important to note the technique used. A series of small touches of color, laid side by side, masterfully organized to create relief and give depth and masterly power to this work.
The alternating orientation of the brushstrokes, sometimes horizontal, sometimes vertical, or oblique, creates a sensation of movement and brings this rural scene to life.
Under the effect of the wind, the trees shake, the surface of the water wrinkles, reflecting iridescent colors, while the buildings provide the reassuring effect of a protective haven.
The artist has used an incredible palette of colors to render this luminous, dazzling harmony.
Oil on canvas, signed lower right, in a gilded wooden frame.
Perfect condition.
Circa 1900.
Unframed 20 X 25 1/2
Framed 29 X 34