A Beautiful Oil on Canvas of the Seine River at Le Croisset, near Rouen, by Narcisse Guilbert.

Coming from a modest family, his father was a carpenter, Narcisse Guilbert was born in 1878, in the Normandy countryside in the village Bouville,
to the North/West of Rouen.
When his father died in 1890, his mother decided to settle in Rouen, but resources were lacking and Narcisse was placed as a courier-deliveryman in a large clothing company in the city.
Passionate about drawing, he took advantage of his rare leisure hours to walk around the city museum and copy the Masters, and painted his mother, his only available model.

At 17, he enrolled in the École des Beaux Arts where he took classes from Zacharie and went on to meet Joseph Delattre and his ‘Académie libre’.
A Sunday painter, he tirelessly crisscrossed the banks of the Seine with his easel and his colors.
His first paintings were exhibited in 1905, in the well known Rouen gallery, Legrip.
The critics were very favorable and encouraged the young artist to persevere in this path.

In 1907 he participated in the 1st Salon des Artistes Rouennais and received the support of several patrons.
His first private exhibition in 1908, was organized by the Legrip gallery. Fans came forward and among them, Emile Bories, a great collector, alerted by the artist’s financial worries, offered him to leave his job to devote himself to his art and pay him a monthly annuity in exchange for which he would take paintings.
That is how Guilbert, at the age of 30, became a full-time painter.

When the war came, he was mobilized and his drawing talents were put to good use by the army, but he lost his patron and friend.
In 1919, after the war ended, life resumed its course, and with his reputation fortified, his paintings continued to be appreciated by critics and collectors.
He shared the studio of Robert Antoine Pinchon whom he particularly admired, for a while. The two went on to exhibit side by side in Paris in 1920.
The years passed and the exhibitions followed one another.
From 1929, he spent his summers in Normandy, near the site of Etretat which inspired him. He would henceforth divide his time between Rouen and the Normandy coast.

After the devaluations of 1937 and 1938, times became very difficult for artists, but the tireless Guilbert continued to paint the banks of the Seine in Rouen and its surroundings.
Then came the 2nd world war, and he exhibited for the last time, still with his friend Pinchon in June 1941.
He died in Rouen in February 1942.
Fernand Guey, curator of the Rouen School of Fine Arts, said of him “In all these works – so diverse – we find the solid technique of the excellent landscaper, the freedom and ease of his brush which, as a faithful interpreter, translates the emotion felt in front of nature, in the most sensitive and sure way”.

Our painting is a view of Le Croisset, and more precisely, a place called Canteleu, a district on the western outskirts of Rouen.
You will see an actual period postcard of the place as you scroll through the photos to photo #6.

The street, shiny from a recent downpour, stretches the reflection of passers-by and of the carriage.
At that time, Le Croisset was home to paper mills, whose buildings can be seen, topped with a smoking chimney and a crane.
On the left, the house with a red roof marks the entrance to the Pavillon Flaubert, the residence of the famous French novelist.

We are in the presence of a scene of daily life from the early 1900s, confirmed by the presence of the hackney carriage.
Everything seems peaceful, everyone goes about their business, a boat floats on the river with pearly waters, only the sky seems threatening, rolling with dark cumulus clouds.
The artist composed his work starting from left to right, from dark hues from plants and minerals to extend to increasingly lighter shades as the eye moves to the right to associate with the sky and the water of the Seine and we imagine that the two will eventually meet…

The composition and framing are very interesting for this painting, the impasto is important and the artist’s work is always visible through his brushstrokes which remain visible,
A magnificent work, very accomplished, although early by Narcisse Guilbert.

Oil on canvas, signed lower right, on its original canvas, presented in a gilded wooden frame.

Unframed 15 x 22
Framed 22 x 28