The Lovers, Picnic by the Boating Lake, Prestigeous Provenance by French Expressionist Gabriel Dauchot Oil on Canvas

Gabriel Dauchot (1927–2005) was the quintessential artist: unworldly, bohemian, romantic, and frequently drunk. He often depicted the past and its glamour—most notably the 1900s, known in France as the Belle Époque. There is a persistent, sweet melancholy in Dauchot’s work—a sense that many of his paintings portray a life he would have loved to inhabit.

Who wouldn’t wish to be in the place of these two ‘Lovers by the Lake,’ enjoying an idyllic summer picnic with wine and baguette, as though belonging to a slower, more elegant time? Yet for Dauchot, beauty is fragile: while the scene is idyllic, the figures appear slightly lost, isolated in their own private world.

Dauchot admired Maurice Utrillo and Chaim Soutine. He studied with Yves Brayer and Othon Friesz, and soon received considerable acclaim, being hailed as one of the most important artists of his generation.

In 1951, Dauchot was awarded the Prize of the Society of Art Collectors. Despite his young age, he exhibited at the prestigious Galleries Durand-Ruel and Katia Granoff in Paris. Internationally, his work was shown at the Hattfield Gallery in Los Angeles, the Juster Gallery in New York, the Carel Gallery in Miami, and the O’Hana Gallery in London.

The present painting has this illustrious provenance: it was acquired from the Carel Gallery in Miami, which specialised in French art of the 1940s and ’50s and the School of Paris; notably, along with Gabriel Dauchot Bernard Buffet was among the artists in its stable.

Former French president and avid art collector Jacques Chirac praised Dauchot’s work in a speech, and actress Greta Garbo was also known to collect his paintings.

Signed lower right and titled Les amoureux on the verso, the painting measures 19 × 47 cm. Luxuriously framed, the overall size in its original elegant French frame is 42 × 70 cm.

We currently have a small selection of works by Dauchot available. Please request the article I have recently written on the artist.

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.