French, 1854 - 1929
Edmond Petitjean, a French artist, was born July 5, 1844, in Vosges and died August 7, 1925, in Paris. He was a painter of landscapes and seascapes. Petitjean’s work first appeared in Paris, at the Salon of 1874 where he became a member of Salon of French Artists in 1883. At the Salon he was given an honorable mention in 1881, a first place medal in 1884 and a second place medal in 1885. He was the recipient of a silver medal in the 1889 Exposition Universelle, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1892, a gold medal in the 1900 Exposition Universelle and finally awarded the highest honor, that of "Hors Concours," that is, no longer being required to compete for a place in the exhibition. He also exhibited his works in Munich in 1890.
Edmond Petitjean was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1892. In the later part of his career, he painted multiple ports of the Atlantic. Works by Petitjean can be viewed in the following museums: Amiens, Arras, Cherbourg, Digne, Epinal, Gray, La Rochelle, Nancy, Paris, Perigueux, Reims, Toulouse, Musee d’Orsay: Une Rue a Liverdun, Le Port de La Rochelle par Gros Temps.
This painting depicts a coastal scene located along a boardwalk in Oostende, Belgium, a popular seaside resort in the mid to late 19th century. It was named “The Queen of the Belgian seaside resorts” due to the frequent vacations taken there by Belian kinds, Leopold I and Leopold II.
Source:
Translated from E. Benezit. Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs Vol. 8 Oke-Robb. Librarie Grund, Paris, 1976. P. 257
French, 1854 - 1929
Petitjean was born at Mâcon on September 11, 1854 and died exactly 75 years later, September 17, 1929. He was more a follower of Neo-Impressionism than a participant, but he appeared in exhibitions with Neo-Impressionists from 1892 onwards. After training in Mâcon, Petitjean came to Paris in 1872 and entered Cabanel’s studio. He continued on the side his trade as painter-decorator for some time, rather like Hayet. His very conservative style, based upon an admiration for Puvis de Chavannes, won him official Salon honors in 1888 and again later, but gradually he adopted the Neo-Impressionist manner. Beginning in 1891 he exhibited regularly with the Independants and in 1892 in the little gallery exhibitions devoted to the Neo-Impressionist; he showed also with Lex XX in Brussels in 1893 and with La Libre Esthétique there in 1898. His period of greatest proximity to Neo-Impressionism was from about 1890 to 1894. Thereafter his many compositions of bathers of vaguely mythological ambience retain a superficial use of small brushstrokes, but without divided color. They are often very close to Puvis de Chavannes and to Fantin-Latour. About 1912, perhaps realizing that his work had lost decisive quality, Petitjean returned to the Neo-Impressionists palette and produced a great many watercolors and a few oils, of which the best are pure landscapes. With their characteristic round dots, rather widely spaced and showing with paper between, his watercolors of the late period are easily recognized and it is all the more wonder that unwary collectors have accepted the many forged dates of the 1880s which have been added in recent years. Petitjean’s finest works are his drawings in black and white of the years 1895 to about 1905.
Museums:
Galerie de l’Insitut, 1955
Findlay Galleries, New York, 1959
Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris
Inspection des Musées de Province, Paris
