St. Tropez by Lucien Neuquelman
St. Tropez by Lucien Neuquelman
In this work Neuquelman has used his characteristically bright palette and energetic, short brushstrokes, to create this view of Saint Tropez. Neuquelman very much enjoyed painting landscapes, not only in the South of France but also views of Paris and Brittany. A Parisian gallery organised a retrospective of his work in 1945.
Rather than mixing the colours on a palette, the colours have been applied onto the canvas separately. In the foreground the contrasting colours of green, blue and red help to add a sense of depth to the canvas, just as the red and orange used in the sea contrast with the blue, creating a sense of depth and movement to the water’s surface.
DIMENSIONS: (unframed) 23.5 x 31.8 ins/ 59.7 x 80.8 cm
SIGNATURE: Signed lower right
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas
Price: £25,000
Description
In this work Neuquelman has used his characteristically bright palette and energetic, short brushstrokes, to create this view of Saint Tropez. Neuquelman very much enjoyed painting landscapes, not only in the South of France but also views of Paris and Brittany. A Parisian gallery organised a retrospective of his work in 1945.
Rather than mixing the colours on a palette, the colours have been applied onto the canvas separately. In the foreground the contrasting colours of green, blue and red help to add a sense of depth to the canvas, just as the red and orange used in the sea contrast with the blue, creating a sense of depth and movement to the water’s surf
Provenance
Private Collection, France
Biography
Lucien Neuquelmann was a French artist whose oeuvre was heavily influenced by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, the forefunners of the pointillist technique. Neuquelmann’s painting approach relies on the ability of the eye and mind of the viewer to blend his singular spots of colour into a fuller range of tones. Like with Seurat and Signac, Neuquelmann does not mix colours on a palette but rather applies complimentary colours in close proximity to one another, often making the colours seem much brighter and more vivid.
Neuquelman began studying at the Art School of Toulon, he then moved to Paris, and went on to meet French Fauvist Othon Friesz, of whom he became a pupil. From Friesz he learned both the colour theories of the fauves and the more sombre palette of Chardin, Poussin and Corot whom Friesz also admired. Particularly in Neuquelman’s work it is apparent that he had absorbed ideas of strong compositions and solid, voluminous forms. In 1930 he entered l’Académie de la grande Chaumière, in Montparnasse in Paris.