Paul Simons (1865-1932) Fisherman Spreading His Nets Along The Canal From Arles To Bouc

A lovely light, a soft and serene atmosphere, and all the charm of the bucolic life of a now bygone era. The canals of the villages around the Etang de Berre and in particular those of Martigues which have earned it the nickname of Provençal Venice. All the great artists took pleasure in coming to paint there, Paul Simons (1865-1932) a Marseille painter is one of them and transmits to us this beautiful testimony of the life of the workers of the Pond with this pretty and luminous oil on canvas representing a fisherman at the edge of a canal, certainly that of Arles à Bouc, extending its nets on the wooden supports typical of the region. The work in perfect condition is offered in a beautiful Louis XIV frame which measures 76 cm by 59 cm and 55 cm by 38 cm for the canvas alone. It is signed lower left.

A student of Luc-Olivier Merson and Jean-Paul Laurens, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français of which he was a member from 1886 to 1897: “Return from hunting” (1886), “Un coin d’amateur” (1887), “ Church Interior” (1888), “Sunrise, October Mists, and Winter Morning (1889), “In the Fields, Idyll” (1895), “Barbaric Times, After the Carnage” (1896) He became a drawing inspector for the schools of the city of Paris. In 1902, he was appointed official painter of the Navy and the Colonies. In 1903 he married Jeanne Marie Antoinette Gaillard in Paris. The man of letters André Rivoire was a major witness to the marriage. He died on February 16, 1932 at the age of 65. Distinctions Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1911 Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1920