Henri Cassinelli - Boats Near Honfleur

Henri CASSINELLI Le Havre, 1833 – end of the 19th century Oil on canvas 50 x 65 cm (65 x 75 cm with the frame) Signed and dated lower right “H. Casinelli / 1867” Beautiful carved and gilded wooden frame from the 19th century century Established in Le Havre, his father opened an engraving store on the Quai d'Orléans in 1828, then later, a paint store on the same quay. Henri Cassinelli will paint seascapes of the port of Le Havre then of the coast near Honfleur, in a style close to that of Boudin. He was a student of Jean-Baptiste Durand-Brager in Paris but learned mainly from working with Boudin. They painted together on the Normandy coast and we even know of several paintings painted in the 1860s co-signed “Boudin Casinelli” (Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle and the Eugène-Boudin museum in Honfleur). We know that Boudin painted skies in Casinelli's paintings. While it is not clear what Casinelli brought to Boudin, in a letter from Jongkind to Boudin, mention is made of the Dutch painters that Casinelli spoke to Boudin about. Cassinelli was very appreciated by amateurs in his time precisely for the descriptive precision of his boats. The two friends simply drew and painted together for a while on the same motifs and Boudin was also able to help his friend by putting his signature at the bottom of certain paintings. In our table we can see many boats with one in the center bearing the letter “H” on the sails and the edge indicating the port of Honfleur. In the distance, the steep coast of the region on the right and a dike with a lighthouse on the left. On both sides, there are also boats and a steamboat (on the left). Also remarkable in this painting are the beautiful sky with its clouds and the beautiful reflection in the water of the boat in the foreground. The painting is dated 1867. A comparable painting dated 1868 was put up for sale at auction in 2008 in Marseille.