Hippolyte Berteaux - View Of Belle-île

Oil on canvas
60×85 cm / 71×95 cm with its frame
Signed lower left “Hipp. BERTEAUX »
Cleaning and redoing of old restorations by an approved museum restorer in France

Originally from Saint-Quentin, Hippolyte Berteaux first trained at the drawing school in his hometown before joining the School of Fine Arts from Paris. The son of a sculptor, he proved to be a precocious artist by being admitted to the Salon for the first time at the age of fifteen. After enlisting voluntarily during the war of 1870, at the age of 19 he became ordinary painter to the Sultan of Constantinople, where he spent three years while continuing to exhibit at the Salon.
On his return to France, he led an official career: he received orders for decorations, notably in Nantes and Paris, obtained several medals at the Salon and was decorated as a knight (in 1892) then an officer (in 1923) of the Legion of Honor.
A recognized portrait painter and decorator, Hippolyte Berteaux tried his hand at landscape painting as of 1907. In particular, he produced several series of views of Belle-Île-en-Mer, which he exhibited at the Salon from 1912. From October 31 to November 14, 1919, he was the subject of a personal exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit , on the occasion of which, out of 32 issues presented, 21 paintings are dedicated to Belle-Île. Commenting on the exhibition, the famous critic Arsène Alexandre writes that he sees in it “a strong, learned and healthy painting. »[1]

[1] Arsène Alexandre, “Artistic life. Small exhibitions”, Le Figaro, November 2, 1919, p. 3.