"Boats in the Harbor" by "Fernand Le Gout-Gérard"

Item Details

"Boats Anchored in the Harbor" by "Fernand Le Gout-Gérard" Oil on Board Wonderful Harbor Scene of Sailing Vessels in a Port City with Numerous Dwellings in the Background. Signed and Dated Lower Right. Very Good Condition, Sight Size: 18" x 14-1/2", With Frame 22-1/2" x 19"  
Fernand Marie-Eugene Legout-Gérard was one of the most famous painters of Breton everyday life of his time. Today his works can be found in every museum in the region. He was born in Saint-Lô in 1856 and died in 1924. He was a French painter mainly of seascapes. Taught at the Saint-Lô college he became a tax collector. In around 1890 he discovered Concarneau and at the age of 33 abandoned his career and took up painting. Subsequently he became a member of the "Société nationale des Beaux-Arts'" and the London '"Pastel Society". He was a painter, watercolorist and designer. His house, the villa Ty Ker Moor, became a meeting place of the artists known as the "Groupe de Concarneau". He painted market scenes, fairs, and the returning fishing vessels, He developed an early interest in painting and from the age of fourteen he occupied himself in copying works of eighteenth century masters. However family pressure soon forced him to abandon his passion in favor of a career in the general treasury of La Manche. Fortunately, he eventually managed to pursue his love of painting whilst holding down a job at the bank, as his grandfather had done before him. Le Goût-Gérard lived in Paris from 1880 to 1890 where he continued to work tirelessly at his art. His toil was rewarded when he met the painter Meissonnier, who provided Le Goût-Gérard with his first opportunity at the time of the general exhibition of 1889.
In 1899 Legout-Gérard exhibited the painting "Derrière la ville close (Concarneau, temps gris)" to the Paris salon (La Société nationale des Beaux-Arts on the Champ-de-Mars). This painting was purchased by the state and in 1901 his painting "L'entrée du Vieux bassin" was also purchased by the state when shown at that year's salon. Other paintings by Legout-Gérard include "Le marché à Concarneau", "Le quai Pénéroff", "Thoniers dans la baie du soir", "Etretat", "Thoniers, soleil couchant" and "Le marché à Quingamp". Gout-Gérard involved himself closely in the affairs of Concarneau. He was the president of the "Comité de la fête des Filets bleus" an organization which strove to improve the lot of the local fisherman and took an active interest in preserving Concarneau's ramparts. An exhibition of his work was staged in 2010 at the Musée du Faouët. Meissonnier’s son introduced Le Goût-Gérard to the thriving artistic community of Concarneau, where the artist was to spend much of the rest of his life. In 1903 he bought a villa in the town in which he installed a studio with a magnificent view across the breadth of the bay. Concarneau was to remain a central influence on Le Goût-Gérard throughout his life as a painter. When his parents died the artist abandoned his career in finance and devoted himself entirely to painting. Markets and fairs were amongst Le Goût-Gérard’s favourite subjects. He greatly enjoyed setting up his easel in the midst of the bustling crowds of the Concarneau marketplace, and recording the activity that surrounded him. He took great pleasure in the conversation and camaraderie of ordinary people. This is clearly reflected in the authenticity of the characters in his work. Le Goût-Gérard was an artist dedicated to realism. He enjoyed experimenting with light and shade and strove, in many of his paintings, to capture the nuances of the rising and setting sun. His success in doing so is vividly displayed in his depictions of the departure of fishing boats in the morning and their return at sunset. He did not confine himself to Brittany and painted in locations as diverse as Venice, Greece, and North Africa. However, Brittany was his first love and he remained loyal to the region for life.