Moulin en bord de mer - Georges MICHEL (1763-1843)

Georges MICHEL (1763-1843, France)
Moulin en bord de mer
Oil on paper mounted on canvas
36.5 x 50 cm

Provenance:
French private collection

In this painting, Georges Michel presents a stormy, windswept landscape under a threatening sky. The artist is nicknamed the "Ruisdael of Montmartre" due to the attention he pays to the skies of his predecessor, Jacob van RUISDAEL (1628-1682), and his favorite subjects, windmills. He finds them in abundance around the Montmartre hill or, as seen here, during his rare trips to Normandy. Moulin en bord de mer captures the effect of the wind, creating a tumultuous relationship between the sky, the land, and the sea. The contrasts of light and shadow accentuate this tension and give the landscape a spiritual dimension. Man, for his part, is relegated to the darkest part of the painting, absorbed in his work.

In our painting, we find Michel's dynamic brushstroke, which inspired Van GOGH (1853-1890), who considered him a master and mentioned him many times in his letters to his brother, Theo. Michel adopts Ruisdael’s techniques for skies and fine glazes, while adding a modern touch through a more pronounced handling of the medium and a more romantic, twilight vision. A pioneer of painting from nature alongside Nicolas Antoine TAUNAY (1755-1830), Jacques François Joseph SWEBACH-DESFONTAINES (1769-1823), and Lazare BRUANDET (1755-1804), Michel knew how to break away from neoclassical landscape painting to pave the way for Romantic landscapes. He gives his compositions, often devoid of figures, a spiritual dimension, thus foreshadowing the Barbizon School and, in certain respects, Impressionism, nearly 60 years ahead of time. His paintings, primarily focused on landscapes, did not align with the tastes of his era. His vision, likely too modern, did not bring him the recognition he deserved during his lifetime, although major collectors of the time often owned several of his works. His "rediscovery" is credited to Alfred SENSIER (1815-1877) in 1873, who worked at the request of the famous art dealer Paul DURAND-RUEL (1831-1922).

He was once again brought to the forefront during the 2018 exhibition organized by the Custodia Foundation and the Monastère de Brou, allowing some of his masterpieces to be rediscovered. Georges Michel belongs to Romanticism and landscape painting, bridging the gap between the Dutch Golden Age and the Impressionists. By rejecting academicism, he brought a new vision of landscape painting, as a precursor to the Barbizon School. In his work, we can distinguish three periods: one close to the style of Taunay and Swebach, a more romantic phase, and finally, a thicker, more worked painting that prefigures future movements.