Jean Fran�ois Retaux, who created this work in the 1930s, used a very physical, textural technique to capture a timeless and atmospheric landscape. His use of light and shadow, particularly on the winding path, is a central feature of the composition.The painting is large, and when I carried it on the train to Paris from Enghien les Bains, the chic suburb where I purchased it, it got a lot of positive attention! One commuter pointed out to me that it looked exactly like a painting by the Post Impressionist master Marcel Dyf, which I considered this a very astute comment. Dyf and Jean Fran�ois R�taux were contemporaries, coming of age as artists in the 1920s. Jean Fran�ois R�taux exhibited at the 40th Salon des Ind�pendents in Paris in 1929, and the City of Paris acquired works by him between 1933 and 1937. Our painting dates from this period. Measuring 65 x 81 cm, the painting is signed by Retaux at the lower right. It is presented in its splendid original, hand carved an...