Victor Charreton (1864-1937) - "Matin de printemps"

Oil on canvas signed lower left
Title in English on the frame SPRING MORNING MUROLS
Dimensions : Height 69 x Width 93,5 cm (With frame : 93 x 118 cm)

Victor Charreton was born in 1864 in Isère. After studying law in Grenoble, he decided in 1902 to devote himself to his passion, painting. He moved to Paris, and until 1913 undertook numerous trips to capture the light of very different landscapes, from Algeria to Holland, through Spain, England and Belgium.

Charreton is a self-taught painter and modernist. His art is unique, unclassifiable. He developed his own techniques and his own supports. In his landscapes, the color dominates the drawing which is quickly sketched with a pencil on the cardboard or the bare canvas. He paints on the ground, without preparation, and practices painting "in reserve", which lets the support appear from which he uses the color. The material, oil paint most often, is applied directly with a knife or a brush, and the chromatic juxtapositions he makes are frank and daring.

The power of Victor Charreton's works is comparable to the Fauvist works produced by Matisse or Derain at the time Victor Charreton moved to Paris. The Auvergne, Brittany and Provence are the subjects that will remain dear to him throughout his life.

Our painting is a large size one. For Victor Charreton, this criterion is essential because the power of this artist is rarely expressed in small formats, which partly explains the large price differences that can be noted for Charreton. This work is quite atypical of Victor Charreton who generally uses strong and contrasting tones. Let's not forget that Victor Charreton was always looking for new techniques, new effects. Here, Charreton has mobilized a palette of pastel colors, to suggest the arrival of spring in a magical place imbued with softness. He depicts a group of houses behind trees in bloom. The composition is superb: In the front, a first line of trees covered with flowers that let us see the houses, then hills with soft curves, while in the background we can guess high snowy reliefs.

Museums in which works by Charreton are exhibited:
Paris, Musée d'Orsay and Petit Palais
New York
Madrid
Lyon
Cleveland...