A lovely Oil on Panel Painting of a fleet of fishing boats in the French port of Honfleur by Marcel Parturier
Born in Normandy, in Le Havre (Seine Maritime) in 1901, he was raised in an artistic family.
His father, a high school teacher, was also a writer, painter, and founder of the Société Havraise des Beaux Arts.
It was therefore only natural that during the holidays, he would follow his father and, with his encouragement, tirelessly paint Normandy landscapes.
He continued his training at the École Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris and continued to paint his Normandy, as well as landscapes of Brittany, Île-de-France, and Provence.
He began exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1921, then at all the other Parisian and provincial salons.
Named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1958, then Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1963, he passed in his apartment of the Boulevard Montparnasse,
in Paris in 1976.
In this original composition, divided into three horizontal thirds, a foreground of snowy expanses, then in the center the valley, steeper and darker, and finally the upper background depicting the mountain and the sky.
For this composition of Fishing Boats Moored at the Port of Honfleur, the artist framed the scene very tightly, retaining only the essentials.
These boats with their sails furled are returning from fishing, their cargo unloaded, and the sailors are preparing for the next day’s session.
A very instinctive treatment in which one can sense the painter’s initial intention without any second thoughts.
The composition is precise, the touch is sure.
A magnificent work by Marcel Parturier, authenticated on the back by his wife.
Oil on panel, signed lower right, in a giltwood frame.
Unframed 10 3/4 X 14
Framed 15 3/4 X 19