Jean-georges Pasquet (1851-1936) The Rock Of Vallières Royan Didonne Charente

Jean-Georges PASQUET
(Périgueux 1851 - 1936)
The isolated rock in Vallières - Saint Georges de Didonne
Oil on canvas
H. 24 cm; W. 36 cm
Signed and dated 1897 lower right

Provenance: Private collection, La Rochelle

Jean-Georges Pasquet was born in 1851, in Périgueux. After a very little documented Perigord childhood, the young artist arrived in Paris and joined the School of Fine Arts from which he was awarded a few years later. He returned to his land in 1879 to take charge of the municipal drawing school in Périgueux, and also became a drawing teacher at the normal schools for boys and girls. A pupil of Gustave Boulanger, Jules Lefèvre and Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant, the painter sets up his easel on the banks of the Dordogne or the Isle to "tell some memories" through realistic landscapes filled with softness. By his style, the painter lets appear a great idea to his compatriots, his country and his origins. There are works stripped of fireworks, representing inhabitants of the region, working their land or simply strolling on paths. These paintings or drawings by Pasquet retrace the life of Périgord at dawn and during the twentieth century, still located in very specific places. He is one of the artists of the School of Périgueux. This school, somewhat forgotten in the history of art, highlights the heritage and identity of the Périgord lands. Among the representatives, we find Jean-Louis Daniel, André Saigne, Georges Darnet, René Laforest, Roger Favard and André Prugent. This movement has as a common denominator a theme that stands out from the canons of the time: the landscape. The artist paints the Dordogne but not only. He travels in the Creuse and paints the rivers and the banks to which he gives life thanks to the vivid colors and the movement given to his brush, to give relief to the landscapes. Jean-Georges Pasquet has been exhibited several times at the Museum of Art and Archeology of Périgueux (MAAP), around exhibitions called "The school of Périgueux, artists-painters in the beautiful era", in 2014 and more recently in 2018.

The point of Vallières in Saint Georges de Didonne and not far from Royan, is a place regularly represented at the end of the 19th century and until the 1930s. We know of many views of the painter Louis Cabié, with this same angle, in all weathers, and as early as 1890. Pasquet seemed to travel regularly to the region since there are works located at the port of Saint Georges, on the beach, in the rocks, or even in the land and forests nearby.

As usual, Jean-Georges Pasquet treats his subject with a lively and pointed palette, very contrasted in its details, and above all, leaves some touches of blue paint, very lively, giving a little extra sparkle to the composition. Royan stands out perfectly against the horizon line of the composition.