Market Day, Camden Town Group Futurist Modernist Composition, French Antique Oil on Canvas

What makes this painting so extraordinary is its juxtaposition of a small town scene and setting with a stye that is almost futurist. Set against an azure blue sky with abstracted clouds, the stark and ancient church spire looks like a precursor to the Chrysler building.

An important element of this picture are its colours, which are both striking and delicate. The subtly shaded pale blue sky over the rooftops to me is a work if art in itself.

According to a specialist, this is an early work by Maurice Asselin (1882 - 1947), and the freshness, strength and unjadedness can indeed be felt.

Presumably dating from circa 1910, its modernism is unusual and exciting.

Maurice Asselin was Walter Sickert's best friend and the French artist most closely connected to the Camden Town Group - is one of the most exciting French artists of his generation. This was felt by many of his contemporaries, including Roger Fry.

Asselin had a one-man show in London with Carfax and Co in 1915, a gallery close to the Camden Group which, according to Paul Nash, was 'probably the most distinguished and exclusive gallery in London at this time’.

In Paris, Maurice Asselin had one man shows at the mythical Galerie Chapentier, the Galerie Marcel Bernheim, and the Galerie Druet.

In fact, his one man show at the Galerie Druet took place in the same year as their retrospective of Pierre Bonnard, which will give you an idea how highly regarded his art was.

An exhibition of the artist's work has also taken place at the Museum of Pont Aven since Asselin, when living in Brittany, he belonged to Pont Aven movement.

Art critics describe Maurice Asselin's work as literary, sensitive, restrained. Walter Sickert calls him: "not only one of the most distinguished artists among the younger artists, but also one of the many sane and normal individualities who are really the important constituents of modern French painting".

Paintings by the artist are in museums all over the world, from Moscow to New York via Christchurch, New Zealand. Four of his works are in the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The Fitzwilliam in Cambridge owns an oil, as does the Hepworth, Wakefield.

Our oil on canvas measures 61 x 50 cm and depicts the market day in the small town of Chateauneuf on the Loire, near Orléans, where Asselin was born.

The overall framed size in a quality frame is 79 x 68 cm

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.