Pierre Vignal
View of the Riva degli Schiavoni , circa 1890
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right
Dimensions: 37.5 x 53cm
With frame 64 x 80 cm
Price: €10,000
A traveling painter, he built his career on his excursions: from Andalusia to the Maghreb via Italy, he traveled the Mediterranean, eager for motifs to paint and fix. Here he depicts a view of the riva degli Schiavoni.
In front of the painter, the statue of Vittorio Emanuele rises, proud; in the background, the Basilica di Santa della Salute provides a focal point for the gaze. The painter uses the reflections of light to shimmer the reflections of the sun in the puddles of rain and on the lagoon, smooth and pale as a mirror. Pierre Vignal does not depart from the picturesque anecdote: in the foreground, birds peck around a puddle.
A pupil of Lalanne and Jacquard, he made his debut at the Salon of 1875 as a painter and watercolourist. In 1883, he became a member of the Society of French Artists. At the Salon, he received a third place in 1901 and a second place in 1907. He is made an officer of the Legion of Honor.
Museums:
• In Paris, Musée du Louvre department of graphic arts.
• In France: Museum of Fine Arts in Reims, Museum of Fine Arts in Bordeaux, Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations in Marseille.
Bibliography:
• Mona Lisa database (collection of French museums)
• “Pierre Vignal”, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Oxford
