Woman On The Beach By Alexandre Brun (1854-c.1941)

Woman on the beach by Alexandre BRUN (1854-c.1941) circa 1930, oil on canvas mounted on cardboard format with the frame, 37cm x 31cm. Alexandre Jean-Baptiste Brun (Marseille, November 3, 1853-Marseille, November 5, 1941), is a French painter, student of Alexandre Cabanel, Carolus-Duran and Felix Bracquemond He is known for his numerous marine paintings and a collection of watercolors on dark wash representing orchids. Alexandre Jean-Baptiste Brun was born in Marseille on November 3, 1853. Young, he studied painting in Paris, at the École des Beaux Arts, with masters such as Alexandre Cabanel, Carolus-Duran and Felix Bracquemond. He painted in particular with Adolphe Monticelli, Louis Tinayre and Henri Pinta. After a first marriage that quickly left him a widower, he married Lucile Dutheil on May 4, 1886, in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, with whom he had three daughters and a son. A marine painter, he produced numerous illustrations for encyclopedias and works dedicated to the sea published by Larousse. An accomplished yachtsman, he accompanied Prince Albert I of Monaco on some of his oceanographic expeditions. The prince invited him to collaborate on the creation of the frescoes for the Grand Amphitheater of the Oceanographic Institute of Paris, the construction of which he financed. Alexandre Brun also carried out commissions for Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild, Barons Arthur and Edmond de Rothschild, and close friends, such as Louis Libreck, for whom he produced perhaps his most famous work: a series of watercolors immortalizing his friend's orchid collection. A prolific painter, he produced numerous family portraits, landscapes (banks of the Seine, Normandy coasts, the port of Joliette, the coves of Marseille) and still lifes. A member of the Salon des artistes français from 1877, he sent his works there almost every year until 1934. He exhibited in London at the Royal Academy in 1881 and 1882 as well as at the Universal Exhibition of 1889, during which he received the bronze medal, marine section, before interrupting to devote himself to travels in various regions of France and Algeria. He suspended his activities again in 1914 to resume them at the end of the war and this, until 1934, date on which he retired to Malmousque, in his villa "L'Ouragan", exhibiting only at the Jouvène gallery in Marseille. He died in Marseille on November 5, 1941. Some paintings have been exhibited occasionally, notably in 2003 for Souvenirs de rivages and in 2009 for Dix années d'acquisitions. Two paintings are published in the book Escales au musée de la Marine5published in early January 2016 by Gallimard. This collection, which is particularly representative of Alexandre Brun's work, should be the subject of an analytical publication and a virtual exhibition on the museum's website. Some works are also kept at the Marseille Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in particular two early paintings (1874 and 1878), a lithograph on the battleship "Suffren", a wash representing the Old Port during the celebrations of Marseille's 2500th anniversary and some posters.