A peaceful Oil on Canvas Painting of the Banks of the Seine by Belgium Painter Victor Gilsoul.
Born in Brussels in 1867, to a café owner father and a painter mother, he developed artistic talents at an early age.
Trained at the Academies of Brussels and Antwerp, he received the landscape prize at the age of 15.
Advised by the painters Louis Artan de Saint Martin and Franz Courtens, he presented his first painting at the Brussels Salon at the age of only 17.
From then on, everything fell into place; exhibitions followed one after another, in Belgium, but also in France, at the Salon des Artistes and in other European capitals.
Awarded numerous times, he received a medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900.
His successes brought him to the attention of King Leopold II, who commissioned him to decorate his yacht “Alberta”.
From 1910 onwards, he traveled in France, creating numerous paintings of the banks of the Seine and various landscapes.
A landscape painter, he worked outdoors, following in the footsteps of the French Impressionist Masters.
The traditional Flemish painting technique of his early years gradually lightened, and softened, over time to become luminous and impressionistic.
His works are exhibited in numerous museums in Brussels, Antwerp, Paris, Barcelona, Bucharest, Luxembourg, London, Brighton, Buenos Aires, and elsewhere.
He was made Commander of the Order of Leopold and Officer of the Legion of Honor.
He died in the Brussels suburbs in 1939.
During his travels in France, Gilsoul left us this moving depiction of the banks of the Seine, south of Paris, near Fontainebleau.
An atmosphere of calm and serenity pervades this scene, where a boat beached on the shore seems to be waiting for its next passenger.
An invitation to stroll and daydream…
The composition is original, with a foreground running diagonally from left to right and a horizontal background occupying the upper quarter of the canvas.
It is interesting to note the evolution of the painter’s style in this work, dated June 1914 on the back, just four years after his arrival in France.
The background is treated in a rather classical and meticulous manner, although the foliage of the trees is beginning to show the influence of Impressionism.
The Seine, on the other hand, is rendered with a purely Impressionistic technique, as is the foreground.
Small touches of color are applied side by side to give more relief and depth to the subject.
It is important to remember that this painting was created only two months before the declaration of war between Germany and France.
A magnificent work by Victor Gilsoul, majestically interpreted, perfectly reflecting the serenity of the place and the moment.
Oil on original canvas, signed in the lower left corner, located and dated on the back of the canvas, presented in a gilded wood Louis XIV style frame.
Unframed 22 x 25½ inches
Framed 31 x 35½ inches