Henri Barnoin (1882-1940) Gouel Breizh

Important oil painting on canvas from the Art Deco period signed H.BARNOIN (Henri Alphonse Barnoin 1882-1940) Breton School titled on the back "Pardon de Saint Guénolé" depicting a great Breton feast called Jour de Pardon (a feast both religious and profane anchored in the need to find oneself between earth and sky around a steeple). Beautiful composition in shimmering colors emerging from a splendid summer day bringing together hundreds of participants in traditional costumes gathered in a friendly atmosphere adjoining the idyllic site of the chapel "Notre Dame de la Joie" built in the town of Penmarch on the borders of the Bigouden country in southern Finistère. Henri Barnoin constructed this work with a palette which, as with the Impressionists, comes to lighten up with dazzling free strokes, perfectly mastered by the lightness and liveliness of the brush, to escort us towards a pretty, richly animated summer landscape where the artist orders his plans and structures the space with color which remains the dynamic thanks to a specific rendering of the atmosphere of this outdoor party while preserving the evocation of the spirit of the place guided by the portrait of the groups carefully arranged in local costumes that are predominantly dark and colorful. Our painting is objectively worthy of the finest achievements of the artist. Rare large format in very good general and original condition presented in a refined Art Deco style frame in lacquered and gilded wood with a pattern of gilded spandrels. Dimensions: 91 cm X 78 cm / at sight: 73 cm X 60 cm. Henri Barnoin was born in Paris into a family of artists. His father and uncles were also painters. he was a pupil of Luc-Olivier MERSON, but he especially takes from Emile DAMERON, his second master, his taste for anecdotal landscapes that he generally animates with peasant crowds, fishermen and boats, markets, rocky coasts and processions , it is the whole repertoire of folk Brittany that feeds his work. He exhibited at the salon since 1909 seascapes, and views of Paris in watercolor. A work which, in its serenity and well-assured technique, is the faithful mirror of the painter's fervor for daily life in Brittany. He chose to settle in Concarneau, a port he had already frequented before the Great War. In this port very visited by painters, a few personalities dominate. Fernand Le Gout-Gérard has made a specialty of market scenes and port themes. Henri Barnoin will follow the same path. The richness of the subjects imposes itself on all. Barnoin, a talented painter is also an excellent pastellist. He favors the effects of light, sunrises and the setting sun which sets the port ablaze. Like Le Gout-Gérard, he likes groups of fishermen or Bretons. His production is very important with some very beautiful successes with bluish harmonies, but also with many repetitions. Living in the summer in Concarneau, he had opened a studio gallery on the quai Pénéroff. He received other friendly painters there. A prolific painter, he was a tireless worker: Victor Giffard, photographer and press correspondent, writes in his artist medallions: “Henri Barnoin, like so many others, seduced and charmed, made Brittany his chosen land. From the rocks of Saint-Guénolé to the chapels of Faouet, from Saint-Michel de Quimperlé to the towers of Saint-Corentin, from the bay of Douarnenez to the Ville Close de Concarneau, in every corner of Cornouaille he has planted his easel. A tireless worker, he is everywhere, brush in hand... Dressed in blue canvas, beret on his head, he paints with enthusiasm, with ardor... The harmonious and vibrant tones of a distinguished palette are at home at the service of a personal vision..." Henri Barnoin dies in Paris at the age of 57. The Musée du Faouet devoted an important retrospective to him in this 2006 season. On this occasion, Jean-Marc Michaud, departmental curator of the museums of Morbihan , devoted a volume to him published by Editions Le Télégramme.