Charles-alexandre Bertier (1860-1924) Lake Bernard, At La Pra De Belledonne

Charles-Alexandre BERTIER (1860-1924) Lake Bernard, at Pra de Belledonne Oil on canvas signed lower left, countersigned and located on the back, presented in a wooden and gilded stucco frame Dimensions: 33 x 46 cm Charles- Alexandre Bertier was born on October 1, 1860 in Grenoble into a family of glove makers. He is the youngest of a family of seven children. His family enjoyed a comfortable situation, which allowed him to enter the minor seminary of Rondeau in October 1872, where he took drawing lessons from Father Laurent Guétal, from whom he learned the rigor of composition. The choice of his subjects (plains, forests, river banks, rocks and snow-capped peaks) is also a legacy of Guétal. Bertier was admitted to the Paris School of Fine Arts where he found his Jean-Alexis Achard. He exhibited several times at the Salon, notably in 1894 where his Vallée du Vénéon au plan du Lac (Grenoble museum) received an honorable mention. His qualities as a landscape painter and representative of Dauphiné earned him national recognition, as evidenced by the decor he created in 1900 for the restaurant Le Train bleu at the Gare de Lyon in Paris (Sunset on the chain of Belledonne). Holder of 31 awards, in France and abroad, he is a member of the Society of French Artists, founding member of the Society of Mountain Painters and member of several juries. His workshop, located at 31 route d'Eybens, in the Exposition-Bajatière district, was destroyed in 1913 by a fire; nothing remained of his works (drawings, paintings and manuscripts) which were stored there. He resumed his work by painting the massifs of Oisans, Switzerland and Mont-Blanc, in order to exhibit at the Salons of Paris, Grenoble and Lyon until his death which occurred on July 26, 1924. He was buried at the Saint-Roch cemetery in Grenoble. With his master, Abbot Guétal, Bertier is one of the eminent members of the Dauphinoise School, initiated by Jean Achard, and specialized in mountain landscapes, presented in a grandiose and spectacular manner. Bertier is both a realistic painter and in search of the spectacular. Thus, his work is halfway between academicism and audacity: the production and composition of his paintings demonstrate a certain academicism, but his technique and his working methods are entirely modern. From the outset, Bertier adopted a particularly recognizable lively touch. Small impastos punctuate the surface of the pictorial layer in dynamic touches. This random and spontaneous style shows the audacity of the painter who moves away from academic tradition. His style lies in the colors he chooses and the precision of his atmospheres. Generally speaking, it is the bright colors that characterize his work. This search for spectacular effect places Bertier in a certain romantic, even impressionist, tradition. By seeking to transcribe the extraordinary effects, he departs from the simple objective description of a place. He is not limited to an observation, but he has the desire to showcase nature, in its spectacular, dramatic or poetic aspects. Mountain lakes are recurring motifs in the foregrounds of Bertier's works. The compositions of these landscapes are true demonstrations of the mathematical rigor with which he balances the masses in his paintings. Condition: canvas in perfect condition; the frame has some chips.