"the Last Repair" On A Normandy Beach. Emile Renouf. Hst 40 X 55 Cm

Émile Renouf was a French painter, born on June 23, 1845 in Paris and died on May 4, 1894 in Le Havre. Biography He studied at the Lycée Impérial Bonaparte and had as a classmate Jacinthe Pozier, who would also become a painter. The Pozier family would later be a great help and unwavering friendship to him. After classical studies, he entered the Académie Julian and was a student of Gustave Boulanger, Jules Lefebvre and Charles Duran. Passionate about classical music, an admirer of Beethoven, Gluck and Mozart, he went with his friends almost every Sunday to applaud the works at the Pasdeloup concerts. He exhibited his first works at the Salon de peinture et de sculpture in Paris between 1877 and 1881. He received the gold medal at the 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris. "Strong constitution, built like a true sea dog, a blond bearded man who holds the brush as well as the oar; with that a true poet, who loves nature and spends his time among the rough population of sea workers, which does not prevent him from also seeking his impressions elsewhere5." He painted marine and peasant themes, often Breton, particularly after a stay on the Île de Sein. His Parisian studio being in a terrible state, he had a new studio built in Le Havre where he died6. His works are in museums in France in Amiens, Le Havre, Rouen, Liège and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York "The Widow [in fact The Widow of the Île de Sein] by M. Renouf is an excellent painting. The unfortunate woman, dressed in long mourning clothes, kneels before the tomb where lies the loved one who was taken from her by the merciless Ocean that roars behind her. Beside him stands the orphan; his young thought is not absorbed by this dark idea of death; it floats, distracted, in his childish gaze. The feeling, which is intense and envelops the whole canvas, compensates for the inexperience of the too broad execution. But what is most remarkable is the effect of this distant sea reflecting the white and sparkling lights of the sky. There is enough here to make many landscape painters envious8 » He is buried in the Sainte-Marie cemetery in Le Havre. Distinctions Knight of the Legion of Honor Knight of the Legion of Honor (1889) Main works A Helping Hand (1881) Brooklyn Bridge (1889) The Widow of the Isle of Sein (1880) Around Honfleur, Spring, 1870 Around Honfleur, Evening, 1875 Around Honfleur, Winter, 1877 House at Haut-du-Vent, at the Mouth of the Seine, 1878 Riverbed in a Valley, 1878, oil on canvas, 134 cm × 210 The Widow of the Isle of Sein, 1880, Museum of Fine Arts, Quimper. This painting was a great success at the 1880 Salon, where it received a second-class medal. A Helping Hand, or The Helping Hand, 1881. After a Storm, 188111. Setting Sun, 1884 A Sea Dog, 188512 Adrift, 188613 End of Day, 1886, 127 × 101.6 cm. The Lookouts, 188915 The Brooklyn Bridge, 1889, 53.2 × 57.5 cm. Picnic in a Park Riverside, Oil on canvas mounted on panel, 60 × 81 cm.cm17 Figures on the Beach, oil on canvas, 21.5 cm × 35 cm18 Edge of the Beach, oil on canvas, 18 cm × 36 cm19 On the Watch (between 1880 and 1890) (painting which inspired an engraving by George Emerick Essig, American engraver20) After the Rain, 1876 Setting Sun, 1876 A Valley in Finistère, 1877 A Rescue, 188321. Work presented that year at the Salon des Champs Élysées. The Pilot (Der Looste), 188322. This painting caused a sensation at the Paris Salon in 18835 Landscape (stream) (Musée des beaux-arts de Liège) The Harfleur Canal, 1892 Final Dry Dock, engraving, 1885 (this painting was paid $5,000 in 188523) The Fishing Party, 189224 Niagara Falls, 189325