Victor Charreton (1864-1937) - Le chemin dans l’ombre, neige, 1911

Oil on canvas, signed, titled and dated lower left 132cm x 188cm
Dimensions with frame 151cm x 208cm

Described and Reproduced :
Victor Charreton Life and Work by R. Chatin 1995
Mercure de France, by Gustave Kahn 1930
Victor Charreton by V.Huss 1988

Exhibited :
Salon de Paris 1921, n°433, described and reproduced
International Exhibition of White Coal, Grenoble 1921
Gallery Dujardin, Roubaix December 1921

Masterpiece of Victor Charreton, this painting represents the artist's emblematic subject and season. This painting comes from the personal collection of Dr. Chatin, author of the catalog raisonné. It is also the largest known format executed by this extraordinary painter.

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 many 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 brush, and the chromatic juxtapositions he makes are bold and daring.

The power of 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 were the subjects that would remain dear to him throughout his life.

Our painting, exceptional by its size and quality, represents a snowy landscape. One will notice the richness of the composition which associates several plans: the road in the foreground, the church illuminated by the sun, which stands out in the second plan and, in the background, the hills. The play of light and shadow is beautifully rendered. The palette, with its combination of whites, russets, mauves and purples, evokes a sunny winter day. It is obvious that for Charreton, this work was special: he used all his talent to work the material in successive layers. The crumpled aspect is opposed to the flatness of the snow. Here especially, Charreton is in absolute creation.

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