Gaston Balande (1880-1971) View Of Périgueux C.1923. Périgord, La Rochelle, Charente, Marquet

New work by Gaston Balande, this time an oil on canvas depicting a view of Périgueux around 1921/1925, signed lower left. Canvas size alone 54x65cm and 60x76cm including frame. This is a superb post-impressionist composition with a fauve tendency by Gaston Balande who paints here a fairly rare view of Périgueux with the famous Saint-Front cathedral on the banks of the Dordogne. Nicknamed “the great mosque of Périgueux” by Victor Hugo, the Saint-Front cathedral, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a site of St. James, attracts the eye with its majesty and grandeur. Overlooking the river, it is revealed by walking from the greenway. Composed of 2 churches built at different times, they are today connected by the Byzantine-style bell tower culminating at more than 60 meters. The Latin church, burned down in 1120, remains open to the sky. The Romano-Byzantine church, giving it an oriental air, has a Greek cross plan with five domes. Balande uses his usual touch of large flat tints, as does his lively and colorful palette. I date this work between 1921 and 1924 because when I looked into Balande's career, I realized that he offered works on the Dordogne in several Parisian salons, views of Bergerac, Bourdeilles, Nontron, Périgueux....almost exclusively between 1921 and 1924. I no longer present Gaston Balande, one of the most famous French painters of the early 20th century, renowned for his views of Etaples, La Rochelle, but also for his genre scenes, his portraits, his nudes, his orientalist scenes, in short a complete painter. I am not going to write you his biography as it is so important, I advise you either to go and look on Wikipedia, I give you the link: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_Balande, or to go and look at his many works in particular the two volumes of the catalogue raisonné, or to get in touch with the association of friends of Gaston Balande, I also leave you the link to their site: https://gaston-balande.com/ This painting is in very good condition, I only point out a small retouch in the sky which adjoins the dome on the far right, today undetectable. Painting cleaned very recently and finally offered in a modern frame. Work guaranteed authentic PS: I advise you to go and look in my other ads for a 2nd work by Balande for sale, a rare and large watercolor on Lauzières