Offered by Galerie Delvaille
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French furniture of the 18th century & French figurative paintings
Oil on round cardboard, signed lower right
Dedicated "To my friend L....".
Diameter 29cm
Alfred Casile is a French Impressionist. Born in Marseille in 1848, he is difficult to classify as a late 19th-century Provençal painter, as his training and encounters led him to discover and appreciate northern landscapes and skies. Moving to Paris, he trained as a naturalist with Antoine Guillemet, a master of the Barbizon school. Guillemet introduced him to Eugène Boudin and Johan Barthold Jongkind, who worked in Honfleur and are considered the fathers of Impressionism. Antoine Guillement also maintained strong links with the young Impressionist movement, and introduced Alfred Casile to Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet.
Casile adopted a subtle touch, with which he worked to convey the impression of nature as a motif, with its modulations and changing atmosphere. After settling in Belgium for a few years, Alfred Casile produced beautiful works in soft light and gray tones.
In 1891, Casile returned to the south of France, abandoning the success he could have enjoyed in Paris; he didn't fully integrate into the Provencal school, which probably didn't forgive him for his Parisian connections, and didn't identify with his diaphanous chromatic range and sometimes misty skies. This position between north and south undoubtedly explains why this talented painter is still not highly regarded today, even though some of Casile's works have achieved very high auction results in France and the United States. Casile's paintings are exhibited in prestigious museums, such as the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence, the Musée Calvet in Avignon, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Béziers, Dieppe, Grenoble, and in Marseille at the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the Musée Grobet-Labadié.
Our painting is a luminous, well-composed work in a round format, daring for a marine. The drawing is precise and delicate, while the color treatment is lively. This work reflects Casile's dual training as a naturalist and impressionist. It is one of the few of Casile's subjects whose subtle nuances convey the sunny Mediterranean weather.
