"Normandy Village And Port On The Edge Of A Cliff"
Oil on canvas by François Edmé RICOIS, dated 1830, signed Ricois in the lower middle. This oil on canvas is framed, cleaned, and restored. Good overall condition. It depicts a landscape of a Norman village and port by the sea. In the center, the small port and the roofs of the houses below. To the right, the typical cliffs of Normandy. To the right, on the heights, the church and its cemetery. A kneeling woman prays at the foot of the cross. Two figures are seated leaning against the surrounding wall. In the center, on the path, figures are busy. François Edmé RICOIS: Born on August 29, 1795 in Courtalain (Eure-et-Loir). Died in 1881 in Paris. 19th century French. Landscape painter, watercolorist. His teachers were Bertin, Girodet, and Bourgeois. He had many students, and for many years held a mixed workshop. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1819, obtaining a second-class medal in 1824. He took part in various provincial exhibitions and was awarded medals in particular in Douai, Lille, Toulouse and Cambrai. He produced a large number of watercolors. He left an important documentary work, consisting of views of castles and private residences, which are often the only surviving representations. As for his views of cities, they fix their appearance in the middle of the 19th century. Museums: Cambrai, Chartres, Paris (Carnavalet), Sceaux, Versailles. Reference: "Benezit" volume 11, page 682.