Albert Decaris (1901-1988) Near Toulon From The Giens Peninsula

Albert DECARIS
(Sotteville-lès-Rouen, 1901 – Paris, 1988)
Presumed view of the coast near Toulon, from the Giens peninsula
Gouache
H. 45 cm; W. 57 cm
Signed lower left
Probably around 1950

Provenance: Georges Fabre collection, friend and greatest collector of the artist

Often considered the best engraver of the 20th century, Albert Decaris was awarded the first Grand Prix de Rome at the age of 18, and was president of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1960. A specialist in burin, he illustrated a considerable number of books (Corneille, Chateaubriand, Vigny, Montherlant, etc.), created and engraved more than 500 stamps for the Post Office. But he also exercised his artistic talents in frescoes and wall decoration, as well as in oil, ink wash and watercolor. Decaris travelled several times to Spain, Greece (he was generally very inspired by Greek mythology) and Italy. At the end of the 1940s, he stayed in the Toulon region and illustrated Léon Verane's book, Toulon, with 34 burins. Anything but classical, with great freedom and sensitivity, our atmospheric gouache could have been made on this occasion, and reminds us that Decaris was appointed official painter of the Navy in 1962. The view seems to be taken from the Giens peninsula, with the coast towards Carqueiranne in the foreground and Mont Coudon in the background.