A Gorgeous Oil on Canvas of Stormy Skies over the city of Rouen by French Painter 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”.

In this beautiful painting, Guilbert takes us on a tour of Rouen, as he tirelessly did, always on the lookout for a viewpoint, a vibrant light, an emotion, an atmosphere to capture…
His gaze fixed on this grandiose panorama, the magic of a unique moment where all these elements are united, he takes out his equipment and captures on canvas, with his Impressionist virtuosity, this distant view of Rouen from the heights of the hill of Canteleu.

In the autumn of 1883, Camille Pissarro stayed in Rouen. On October 22, having received a visit from Monet the day before, he wrote to his son Lucien:
“We spent a superb day in Canteleu, a village near Déville, on the high hill. We saw the most splendid landscape a painter could dream of: the view of Rouen in the distance with the Seine unfolding, calm as a mirror, sun-drenched hillsides, splendid foregrounds. It was magical…”

Clearly, Narcisse Guilbert was familiar with the master’s writings and shared the same sensitivity to the splendor of the place.
Pissarro’s words could not find a better illustration than this superb work, reflecting the splendor of the location.

Let’s first talk about the construction:
The foreground is treated with a certain brutality, branches emerge, allowing the presence of buildings topped with blue roofs and red chimneys to filter through.

In the middle ground, a row of trees, starting from the right corner, rises diagonally to follow the blue ribbon of the Seine, which, in small horizontal strokes, captures the image of an urban site which dissolves and melts into the horizon.

In the background, a large upper horizontal third is entirely dedicated to the sky, shadowy and rebellious, piling up with thunderous cumulus clouds preparing their thunderbolts.

Technically speaking, the Impressionist touch is perfectly visible; a swirling, sometimes whirling brushstroke lays down a generous layer.
But it is the underlying color in Pissarro’s description that is the true focus of the painting.
It is a combination of lyricism and a brutal expressiveness that directly connects it to Fauvism!

Guilbert, the excellent colorist that he is, captures the ochre hues, with which the late rays of the sun nuance the scene.
Subsequently the scene proceeds with a dazzling chromaticism where the tones are exalted by their juxtaposition to one another.
The hillside is ablaze, dotted with just a few blue roofs, and the entire city is ablaze with these hues ranging from beige to purple.
The smoke rising from the city seems to be lit by the same fire as the clouds hovering above it.
Only the Seine, unfolding its placid course, brings a sense of calm to the scene, mimicked by the wisp of blue sky.

A major work by Narcisse Guilbert, majestically rendered, perfectly reflecting the sumptuousness of the site.

Original oil on canvas by Legrip, a famous Rouen merchant, signed lower left, presented in a Louis XIV-style giltwood frame.

Unframed 21 X 29 inches
Framed 29 X 37 inches