Charles Fromuth 1866-1937

"Sailing under South Winds" - Charcoal signed, dated 30, numbered 960 BB lower right and labeled on the back with the same information in the hand of the artist Charles Fromuth is an American painter born in 1866 in Philadelphia and died in 1937 in Concarneau. Student at the Philadelphia School of Fine Arts under Thomas Eakins; he discovered Europe and Paris in 1889 and came for the first time to Concarneau and Pont-Aven in 1890. He stayed for the rest of his life in Concarneau, taking a board at the Hôtel de France. During the 1900 Universal Exhibition, he discovered Japanese art and in particular Hokusai. All his work is mainly devoted to the animation of boats in the port of Concarneau. “Movement is the main idea of my work” wrote Charles Fromuth. He exhibited regularly in Europe, obtaining various prizes and medals, until 1910. After this date, he no longer exhibited and led a hermit's life entirely devoted to his pastels and charcoals representing boats fleeing under sail. The Pont-Aven Museum of Fine Arts dedicated an exhibition to him in 1989.