Roses - Albert Lebourg (1849-1928)

Oil on canvas measuring 46X38 cm (without the frame) representing a bouquet of roses signed lower right by Albert Lebourg (1849-1928)

Albert Lebourg was born on February 1, 1849 in Montfort-sur-Risle (Eure, France) d ' a father court clerk. In his youth, he met Victor Delamarre, artist who gave him advice in his early beginnings. Barely 20 years old, he entered the studio of Drouin, architect and drawing teacher in Rouen. He also follows drawing lessons from Gustave Morin, director of the Municipal School of Painting and Drawing in Rouen. The young Albert received an academic training there, quite traditional in invoice. At that time his taste was mainly oriented towards the romanticism of 1830. 1872 was a decisive year for Lebourg because he exhibited at the 23rd Salon Municipal de Rouen with Corot, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley and Ziem. A great collector, Mr. Laperlier, president of the Société des Beaux-Arts d'Alger (Algeria), is interested in his work and offers him a job as a drawing teacher. Lebourg was immediately won over by the city. He taught there until 1876 and in his spare time devoted himself to outdoor landscapes. This rich experience led him to clarify his chromatic palette. Back in Paris in 1878, he trained with Jean-Paul Laurens, history painter and pupil of Léon Cogniet just like Gustave Morin. But this teaching did not satisfy the young artist, who loved landscapes. Lebourg participated in the Impressionist adventure by exhibiting at the 4th and 5th Impressionist Exhibitions, in 1879 and 1880. From 1884, he undertook numerous trips, notably to Auvergne, Holland, Belgium and England where he admired the work of Turner, Constable and Gainsborough. In 1903, he was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor. His favorite subjects are the views of Paris and its surroundings (Nanterre, Rueil, Chatou, Marly) as well as Normandy: he likes in his small format paintings to transcribe the atmosphere that emerges from a landscape. It was while contemplating Paris that he exclaimed: "It is above all in front of such a painting that one realizes that it is necessary to give the sensation of things and not to copy things and that a painting does not is not a photograph. " Museums: Paris, Musée du Louvre Paris, Musée d'Orsay Paris, Musée Carnavalet Paris, Petit Palais Angers, Musée des Beaux-Arts Caen, Musée des Beaux-Arts Dunkirk, Musée des Beaux-Arts Lille, Musée des Beaux-Arts Rouen , Musée des Beaux-Arts Bibliography: E. Bénézit, Gründ edition, Tome VIII, pages 383-384. François Lespinasse, Albert Lebourg: 1849-1928, Imprimerie ACK, 1983. Léonce Bénédite, Albert Lebourg, Paris, Editions des “Galeries Georges Petit”, 1923.