Louis Agricole Montagné (1879-1960)

Beautiful and large watercolor by Louis Agricoile Montagné representing a picking in an orchard in Provence, located Caderousse on the back, signed lower right. Format without frame 37x45cm. It is indeed a superb watercolor by one of the Avignon masters, Louis Agricole Montagné, here he crunches a picking of cherries or apricots in an orchard in Provence, apparently towards Caderousse, a village between Avignon and Orange. As usual, he perfectly masters his subject, here animated by characters, in one of his favorite techniques, watercolor. Indeed Montagné was certainly one of the best watercolorists of his generation; his colors are sumptuous, he plays in particular with the support after having posed his preparatory drawing in charcoal and then poses his watercolors with force and subtlety without any repentance, of the great Art. But Montagné also had a perfect command of oil painting; in short, a true and great painter. Provence will remain his main playground, especially the surroundings of Avignon, but he will also travel to many other regions, Normandy, Brittany, Lot, Collioure, Venice etc .... Louis Agricol Montagné (Avignon, 1879 - Paris, 1960) is a French painter and watercolorist, student of Paul Saïn and Fernand Cormon Very young, he collaborated in 1900 with Paul Saïn on the decoration of the restaurant Le Train bleu at the Gare de Lyon in Paris. He exhibited in Paris at the Salon d'Automne in 1901 and was declared out of competition in 1911 which earned him a travel grant. Named Knight of the Legion of Honor, he was made an officer in 1932. Living in Paris and in the village of Les Angles, at the Château de Pontmartin, he was a member of the Group of Thirteen and of the new group of regional artists. Montagné was appointed director of the École des Beaux-Arts d'Avignon from 1920 to 1928 and curator of the Villeneuve-lès-Avignon museum. He illustrates with twenty watercolors the book by André Hallays, Avignon, published in 1928 by Henri Babou editions. He heads several organizations such as the Committee for the Preservation of Sites and Monuments of Vaucluse, the Association of French Landscapers and the Association of French Watercolors. He founded the Salon du dessin et de la peinture à l'eau. The watercolor that I offer is in superb original condition and moreover delivered in a very beautiful contemporary frame of quality. Authentic guarantee