Jean-georges Pasquet (1851-1936) The Island At Campniac Dordogne Périgueux

Jean-Georges PASQUET
(Périgueux 1851 - 1936)
L'Isle à Campniac
Oil on canvas
H. 24 cm; W. 35 cm
Signed lower left

Provenance: Private collection, Lower Normandy

Jean-Georges Pasquet was born in 1851 in Périgueux. After a childhood in Périgord that is very poorly documented, the young artist arrived in Paris and joined the School of Fine Arts, from which he graduated a few years later. He returned to his land in 1879 to take over the direction of the Municipal School of Drawing in Périgueux, and also became a drawing teacher at the Boys' and Girls' Teacher Training Colleges. A student of Gustave Boulanger, Jules Lefèvre and Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant, the painter set up his easel on the banks of the Dordogne or the Isle to "tell a few memories" through realistic landscapes filled with gentleness. Through his style, the painter lets his compatriots see a great idea of his country and his origins. We find works stripped of artifice, representing inhabitants of the region, working their lands or simply strolling on paths. These paintings or drawings by Pasquet retrace the life of Périgord at the dawn and during the 20th century, always located in very specific places. He is one of the artists of the Périgueux School. This school, somewhat forgotten in the history of art, highlights the heritage and identity of the Périgord lands. Among the representatives, we find Jean-Louis Daniel, André Saigne, Georges Darnet, René Laforest, Roger Favard and André Prugent. This movement has as a common denominator a theme that stands out from the canons of the time: the landscape. "It is a school without a leader and without a dominant style, but which worked with extraordinary enthusiasm. They liked to tackle pieces of nature that we call picadis here. » Jean-Michel Linfort The artist paints the Dordogne but not only, he travels to Creuse and very regularly to Saint Georges de Didonne. There he paints the rivers, the sea, the ports, the bridges, the dunes and the forests. So many motifs that he knows how to transcribe and to which he gives life thanks to the bright colors and the movement given to his brush, to give relief to the landscapes.

The outskirts of Périgueux are common in the painter's work. From Chancelade to Trélissac he crisscrosses the banks of the Isle to give contrasting images, often animated by a few characters busy with their occupations. Here the image represents Campniac, south of the Périgord capital, whose first roofs can be seen on the other bank.