Venise, la Pointe de la Douane Vue du Grand Canal by Louis Abel-Truchet
Venise, la Pointe de la Douane Vue du Grand Canal by Louis Abel-Truchet
Louis Abel-Truchet was a major French painter, etcher and lithographer of his time. He is most well-known for his depictions of Paris and Venice, both cities which remained close to his heart throughout his life. This beautiful painting of the Venetian Grand Canal demonstrates a superb sensitivity of colour with the bright reflections and effects of light.
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS: (unframed) 28.7 x 21.3 ins/ 73.0 x 54.0 cm
SIGNATURE: Signed ‘Abel Truchet’ (lower left)
Price: £37,500
Description
Louis Abel-Truchet was a major French painter, etcher and lithographer of his time. He is most well-known for his depictions of Paris and Venice, both cities which remained close to his heart throughout his life. This beautiful painting of the Venetian Grand Canal demonstrates a superb sensitivity of colour with the bright reflections and effects of light.
Provenance
Private collection, Orleans;
Private collection, United Kingdom;
Private collection, France;
Private collection, France
Biography
Born in 1857 in Versailles, Abel-Truchet was a student at the well-known Julian Academy in Paris and was a student of Julian Lefebvre and Benjamin Constant. In 1891 he began to exhibit his works in various salons, notably the Salons d’Automne; the Salon des Artistes Français; and at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, where he became a member of the society in 1910.
Abel-Truchet was deemed by many to be an ‘Impressionist’ due to the style of work he created, yet the wealth and variety of his work makes it impossible to define his role as an artist only through Impressionism.
Abel-Truchet’s role as a satirist of the time was also a major part of the journey of his art and this motivated him to be one of the founding members of the Society of Humorists. He has favourably been compared to the great satirists of the day such as Forain and Steinlen. He was also a member of the Cornet Society – a fraternity of artists, musicians, academics and other prominent Parisians who met regularly to discuss matters of the day. The society invited artists of the group to supply illustrations that were made into postcards and menus and Louis produced a number of illustrations for them.
At the age of fifty seven Abel-Truchet volunteered to fight in the First World War, this also became material for his art as he produced a series of lithographs depicting scenes from World War One and his own firsthand experience of the war. One particularly well-known lithograph is entitled Stalemate at the Western Front.
Defeat at Home. It shows an Officer being told off by a woman, who seems to be his wife. It has been said that this is a self-portrait of Louis himself. Apparently some said.