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Banks of Solitude French School (1926)

1926

'Port of Saint-Malo', oil on canvas affixed to board, French Modern School (1984). Although the artist dated this painting '84, it depicts a nostalgic view of the port of Saint-Malo in Western France's, Brittany in 1884 judging by the clothing worn by the characters depicted. The crowd on the shoreline is watching a sailboat regatta starting just inside the port's breakwater. A rather rare sunny day in Brittany brought out the parasols of the sitting ladies on the edge of the old ramparts. The walled city...

'Snow in Provence', oil on board, by Yves Brayer (circa 1960s). A rare and atmospheric landscape by Yves Brayer, capturing an exceptional moment in the Provençal countryside. Snow in...

'Le Jardin du Luxembourg', oil on canvas, by Marie de Nivouliès de Pierrefort (circa 1910). Parisians are not equivocal about their park preferences. Some clearly favour the Tuileries, while others stand firmly with feet planted in the Jardin du Luxembourg. Perhaps this is analogous to residents' strongly-held preferences for either the Café Deux Magots or the Café de Flore, just down the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Back to the gardens though, I have always been captivated by the Luxembourg Gardens. It's the lawns, tree-lined promenades, tennis courts, flowerbeds, model sailboats on its octagonal Grand Bassin, as well as the picturesque Medici Fountain...

'View of Mont Ventoux Under the Provence Sky', oil on canvas, by Michel Margueray (circa 2000). Mont Ventoux is the highest peak in Provence, not far from...