Marius GOURDAULT (1859 – 1935) Autumn landscape

Marius Gourdault

Edge of the Seine near Meudon, circa 1890, by Marius Gourdault; an autumn landscape with a twirling, impressionistic touch and shimmering colors.

Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 43 x 55 cm
With frame: 61 x 71.5 cm

Price : 7500 euros

Marius Gourdault, a little-known Impressionist “Great Artist

Marius Gourdault was a plein-air painter with a fresh, luminous palette. Strongly influenced by the Impressionist school, he was a close friend of Henri Moret and Maxime Maufra.
His work remains little-known and poorly catalogued, a mystery given the quality of his canvases and his influence on his friend Henry Moret.

On the banks of the Seine near Meudon, a calm landscape with a twirling touch.

Marius Gourdault painted in Brittany, around Doëlan, but also in the Paris region. He lived in Vanves, not far from the Meudon forest and the banks of the Seine, where he often set down his easel, as he did for our painting.
The richness of the brushstrokes characterizes this Seine bank, where the predominantly orange and blue colors intermingle, adding vibrancy to the painting.

Biography

Marius Gourdault was born in Châtellerault. He lived in Châtellerault, Le Havre and Paris, and made frequent trips to Brittany.

In 1877, he was employed as a draughtsman with the French civil engineering department.

With the help and encouragement of his teacher Paul Saïn, then aged 21, he exhibited his first painting in 1880 at the Salon du Ministre de l’Inspection Publique et des Beaux-Arts, then at the Salon des Champs Elysées.
The reviews were very favorable.

We find him in 1881, attached to the plans and works of Paris. From 1891 to 1904, he rose through the ranks to become Principal Draughtsman and Officier d’Académie.
Of modest origins and fleeing the bohemian lifestyle of his friends, this job provided him with a stable situation and a regular income.

He takes part in the 1900 Universal Exhibition. He is nominated for the Palmes Académiques.

Marius Gourdault was greatly influenced by the Impressionist school, and met Henry Moret for the first time in 1880. He would become his friend, meeting him every summer in Doëlan, Brittany, sharing with him the same love of the Breton countryside and its inhabitants. The two men resembled each other, sharing the same selflessness, the same discreet and modest kindness. Henry Moret offered him several of his paintings;

In July 1890, while visiting Pont-Aven, Gourdault met Maxime Maufra. Maufra was to become a friend. The following year at Le Pouldu, he met Paul Gauguin.

Marius was a plein-air painter who took to the countryside with his easel. Always painting from the motif, his pictures are often medium-sized. As time goes by, the colors of his palette become fresher and brighter.

Marius Gourdault retired in 1921 at the age of 75.

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