A Peaceful Oil on Canvas Painting of the Seine River Near Duclair by Albert Malet
Born in Bosc le Hard, north of Rouen in 1912, Malet began painting at the age of 19, benefiting from the advice of his illustrious teacher, Robert Antoine Pinchon, himself a pupil of Albert Lebourg (two masters of the Rouen school).
A talented colorist and luminist, Malet captures on canvas the fleeting atmosphere and fluctuating colors of his subjects.
Setting up his easel in the Normandy countryside, he knew how to allow himself to be immersed in places, the better to transcribe them.
His motto was “See everything, feel everything”
From 1942 onwards, he exhibited at the Salon de l’Ecole Française in Paris, then at the Galerie Legrip in Rouen, and abroad in Algeria, Germany, Japan…
He died in Rouen in 1986.
He is considered the last of the French Impressionists.
It is on the banks of the Seine, west of Rouen, at a place called “Duclair,” that the artist set up his easel to convey to us, through his brushes, his vision of this river landscape.
A multitude of small touches of color, expertly arranged side by side, compose the flower-covered bank in the foreground. The flowers seem to burst from the earth in a polychrome explosion of pure, vivid, and striking colors, contrasting with the muted atmosphere of the rest of the canvas.
Higher up, the Seine unfolds its course, calm and powerful, amidst hills that silently witness the passage of ships cutting through the mist.
The Seine has always been a powerful source of inspiration for the painters of the Rouen School, but Malet made it his favorite subject. This is undoubtedly why he succeeds so well in transcribing the effects of light, the gust’s on the water, the enveloping, humid mist, the low, heavy sky, the sunlight filtered through the veil of clouds…
Whole days, in all weathers and seasons, wandering along the banks of the river to find inspiration or the site that would catch the Master’s eye, from which the work would be born.
This beautiful Impressionist canvas is the perfect testament to the talent of Albert Malet, a visionary and independent pleinairist.
Original oil on canvas in perfect condition, signed lower left, countersigned and located on the back, presented in a gilded wood frame.
Unframed 20 X 29
Framed 24.5 X 33.5