Gardening in Summer, 1945, the Patient Gardener, by French Surrealist Mathelin Oil on Board

Name: Gardening in Summer, 1945, the Patient Gardener, by French Surrealist Mathelin Oil on Board
Brand: Antique
SKU: SA1056639
Availability: SoldOut

1920 - 1940

Sold by Skippings Fine Arts

Description

At first glance, here is a simple gardening scene, and the painting can be thoroughly enjoyed at this straightforward level. It is summer: the vegetation is lush and it is clear that our gardener has planted and tended with love, care and passion. We see him work with delight and patience..

There is an additional layer to the painting when it is put into a historical context: it is 1945. The war just ended months ago. There must have been something very strange in the return to normality, which the surrealist Lucien Mathelin is expressing in this painting. The scene feels almost dreamlike.

Mathelin was born into a family of artists and received artistic training from childhood. He produced his first oil on canvas at the age of 15 in 1920. In 1924, he exhibited for a first time at the Salon d'Automne, of which he became a member. He traveled to Morocco (1925-1926) and Greece (1933-1934) in search of inspiration and in 1937 worked with Raoul Dufy on the creation of the gigantic painting La Fée Électricité .

Mathelin had one man shows in France, Germany, the UK, Japan and Italy and exhibited at the Salon Comparaison, The Salon of Young Painting, the Salon des Tuileries, the Paris Biennale, the National Society of Fine Arts and the "Artist Witnesses of their Time" exhibition series at the Musée Galliera.

Works by the artist are notably in the National Museum of Modern art/Centre Georges Pompidou, and in the Museum of Montmartre in Paris as well as in museums in Dallas and Göteborg.

Measuring 33 x 41 cm or oil on board is signed at the lower left and dated to the verso. The overall size in a limed oak frame is 48 x 56 cm.

Physical Dimensions

Height

33cm (12.99")

Width

41cm (16.14")

Depth

1cm (0.39")

Declaration

Skippings Fine Arts has dated this piece to the 1940s.

Reference Numbers

Sellingantiques Reference

SA1056639

Dealers Notes

Nous parlons français, und wir sprechen auch Deutsch! Paintings may be viewed in Norwich and in Paris, as well as in London and Cambridge by appointment. Please contact us if you would like further details and images of an artwork.

Description

At first glance, here is a simple gardening scene, and the painting can be thoroughly enjoyed at this straightforward level.

“

It is summer: the vegetation is lush and it is clear that our gardener has planted and tended with love, care and passion.

Skippings Fine Arts

We see him work with delight and patience..

fig 1. Gardening in summer, 1945, the patient gardener, by French surrealist Mathelin oil on board — fig 1. Gardening in Summer, 1945, the Patient Gardener, by French Surrealist Mathelin Oil on Board

There is an additional layer to the painting when it is put into a historical context: it is 1945. The war just ended months ago. There must have been something very strange in the return to normality, which the surrealist Lucien Mathelin is expressing in this painting. The scene feels almost dreamlike.

fig 2. Gardening in summer, 1945, the patient gardener, by French surrealist Mathelin oil on board — fig 2. Gardening in Summer, 1945, the Patient Gardener, by French Surrealist Mathelin Oil on Board

Mathelin was born into a family of artists and received artistic training from childhood. He produced his first oil on canvas at the age of 15 in 1920. In 1924, he exhibited for a first time at the Salon d'Automne, of which he became a member. He traveled to Morocco (1925-1926) and Greece (1933-1934) in search of inspiration and in 1937 worked with Raoul Dufy on the creation of the gigantic painting La Fée Électricité .

fig 3. Gardening in summer, 1945, the patient gardener, by French surrealist Mathelin oil on board — fig 3. Gardening in Summer, 1945, the Patient Gardener, by French Surrealist Mathelin Oil on Board

Mathelin had one man shows in France, Germany, the UK, Japan and Italy and exhibited at the Salon Comparaison, The Salon of Young Painting, the Salon des Tuileries, the Paris Biennale, the National Society of Fine Arts and the "Artist Witnesses of their Time" exhibition series at the Musée Galliera.

fig 4. Gardening in summer, 1945, the patient gardener, by French surrealist Mathelin oil on board — fig 4. Gardening in Summer, 1945, the Patient Gardener, by French Surrealist Mathelin Oil on Board

Works by the artist are notably in the National Museum of Modern art/Centre Georges Pompidou, and in the Museum of Montmartre in Paris as well as in museums in Dallas and Göteborg.

Measuring 33 x 41 cm or oil on board is signed at the lower left and dated to the verso. The overall size in a limed oak frame is 48 x 56 cm.