A Lovely Oil on Canvas Paiting of the Coast in Biarritz by French painter Georges Binet.
Born Georges Jules Ernest Binet in Le Havre (Normandy) in 1865, he showed an aptitude for drawing at a very young age and painted his first oil painting at fourteen.
Encouraged by his parents, he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts in Le Havre, where he studied under Charles-Marie Lhuilier (a friend of Claude Monet).
Confirming his artistic talent, he won the school’s first prize in 1883.
He subsequently joined Raphaël Collin’s studio in Paris before fulfilling his military service.
Upon his return, he joined the studio of Fernand Cormon, a more academic painter.
Georges settled in Montmartre and exhibited his work for the first time at the ‘Salon des Artistes Français’ in 1889.
He remained a regular exhibitor there until 1938.
Despite his Parisian training, Georges Binet remained, above all, a Norman painter.
He frequently returned to his hometown of Le Havre to visit his parents, as well as to Villequier, where his uncle owned a villa called “La Maison Blanche”, a property Georges would eventually inherit.
In 1904, he was awarded a gold medal at the ‘Salon des Artistes Français’ for a painting titled ‘Jardin à Caudebec’ (Garden in Caudebec).
Having firmly established himself as a landscape painter, he was clearly influenced by the Impressionist style of Eugène Boudin, Camille Pissarro, and Claude Monet in his depictions of the Norman landscape.
In 1941, Georges Binet and his wife moved to Toulon on the Mediterranean coast, where he passed away in 1949.
The painting presented here, created around 1898, depicts a seaside scene—likely Biarritz, according to a label on the back.
Soft, delicate hues rendering the sky, sea, and horizon are accented by the white of the sea foam and the brown tones of the rocks.
The artist’s brushstrokes remain visible on the canvas.
The brushwork is fluid and silky for the soft hues, yet far more energetic in the rendering of the clouds and sea foam.
There is no concern for minute detail here, instead, the atmosphere of the place and moment is captured through a decidedly Impressionist touch.
A highly talented artist, Georges Binet has created a fine Impressionist work. Peaceful and restful, this view allows the gaze to wander and the imagination to roam.
Oil on canvas mounted on heavy board, signed lower left, presented in a Louis XIV-style gilded wood frame.
The painting is dated 1898.
Unframed: 10 x 12 1/2 inches
Framed: 16 x 19 inches