Georges Darnet (1859-1936) Sunset Dordogne Périgord

Georges DARNET
(Périgueux 1859 - 1936)
Sunset in Périgord
Oil on canvas
H. 43.5 cm; L. 55 cm
Signed lower left

Provenance: Private collection, Périgueux

Georges Darnet was born in Périgueux, to a family of tailors from the banks of the Dordogne around Lalinde by his father and to a family of butchers from the capital of the department by his mother. He grew up and continued his studies in Périgueux before joining Bordeaux to be a boarder at the School of Fine Arts. We unfortunately do not know the details of his life or his career, but we do know that he will be under the leadership of Louis Auguin, famous painter from Bordeaux representing all the dunes of the Atlantic coast. It is certainly by learning alongside the master that he will opt for works with clear and luminous shades where the color will never take precedence over the fluffy atmosphere. As soon as he returned to Périgueux after his studies, Georges Darnet became a teacher at the city's drawing school which Jean-Georges Pasquet directed. This painter, who is eight years her senior, will become her faithful friend. They will work side by side on the pattern on their free days. He was mobilized during the First World War, at the age of 55, and was wounded three times until February 1918, which earned him the Croix de Guerre, without even being demobilized. However, he will not abandon his brushes, and will even present his works at the Salon des Artistes Français of which he was already a member in his youth, and where he will obtain an honorable mention in 1920 and a third medal in 1928.

This light at the end of the day sparkles on the Perigordian valleys that one can imagine at least in June, given the color of the crops. Already yellow, but far from ripe. Darnet places this small farm, which must be around Périgueux, according to their architecture with their canal-tiled roofs, at the heart of its composition, below the brilliant sun.