Midcentury French Parisian Scene Oil Painting in Gilt Frame Signed A. Blanchard

Description

Set in a carved gilt frame, this exquisite oil on canvas painting depicts a typical Parisian scene; the artwork shows … more Set in a carved gilt frame, this exquisite oil on canvas painting depicts a typical Parisian scene; the artwork shows a realistic rendering of space with an impressionistic style. The result is one that shows the hand of the artist, and expresses an of-the-moment atmosphere of the place. The painting is signed in the lower right corner by the artist, Antoine Blanchard.
Antoine Blanchard (1910-1988), is the pseudonym under which the French painter Marcel Masson painted his immensely popular Parisian street scenes. He was born in a small village near the banks of the Loire. Blanchard received his initial artistic training at the Beaux-Arts in Rennes, Brittany. He then moved to Paris in 1932 where he joined the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He won the Prix de Rome.
Like Édouard Cortès (1882-1969) and Eugène Galien-Laloue (1854-1941), Antoine Blanchard essentially painted Paris and the Parisians in bygone days, often from vintage postcards. The artist began painting his Paris street scenes in the late 1950s, and like Cortès, often painted the same Paris landmark many times, in different weather conditions or various seasons. The most recurrent topics were views of the capital city in cloudy or rainy days, showing streets busy with pedestrians in a rush to go home, and bright storefronts reflecting on wet streets. He died in 1988. Listed in the Benezit.
Measures: 37" W x 29.5" H. less