Marius Gourdault Brittany Doelan

He lived in Châtellerault, in Le Havre then in Paris. In 1873, then aged 14, he studied at Lycée Lavoisier, where he was a good student. During the year 1877, he was employed in the bridges and roadways as a draftsman. We find him in 1881, attached to the plans and works of Paris. From 1891 to 1904, he climbed all the rungs to finish as Principal Draftsman and Academy Officer. He participated in the Universal Exhibition of 1900. He was proposed for the Academic Palms. In Doëlan, he stays with the Merer family, a house located at n°4 rue du Pont-Du, his guests become his friends whom he meets every year for several months, and with whom he establishes almost family relations. He sets up his easel around Doëlan in La Vallée du Sénéchal, at Le Pouldu, on the banks of the Laïta or on the banks of the Aven river. Marius always worked "on the ground" in the open air, for this reason his paintings are generally of medium size. With the help and encouragement of his teacher Paul Saïn, he exhibited for the first time, then aged 21, at the Salon de peinture et de sculpture du Palais des Champs-Élysées in 1880, Crépuscule, an oil on canvas of 46 cm x 32 cm under the inventory number 1669. (Error on the exhibition catalog, It is in fact a format 46 cm x 33 cm, P8.). The criticism of Théodore Véron of the universal institute of sciences, letters and arts in 1880 for this small study is very favorable On July 19, 1885, he exhibited at the museum of Versailles during the 32nd edition, under the inventory number 185, an oil on canvas In the wood of Clamart Friend of Henry Moret, Jacinthe Pozier, Jules Leray, Vital Lacaze, Paul Saïn... Marius Gourdault spent his holidays in Doélan. He met Moret at the Salon of French Artists in 1880 and they became good friends. The two men resemble each other, they have in common the same disinterestedness, the same kindness marked by discretion and modesty. Marius Gourdault entered the Ministry of Public Works as a drawing teacher at the National School of Bridges and Roads rue des Saints Pères in Paris. He worked in particular in the departments of maps and plans and graphic statistics. Of modest origin and fleeing the bohemian life that his friends then led, this job provided him with a stable situation with regular income. His friendship with Jacinthe Pozier (1844-1915) impressionist painter close to Camille Pissarro dates from this time, he had a great influence on the work of Marius.