Upcoming Drop: Victor Pierre Ménard
We had the chance of attending an atelier sale a few months back, containing the works and private collection of Victor Pierre Ménard (1857-1938).
It's a rarity to see these atelier sales for an artist from the 19th century. Most of his paintings were created in the late 1800's, and the body of work has remained largely intact.
About the artist: Victor Pierre Ménard (1857-1938) was born in Nantes in 1857. He trained at the prestigious Beaux-Arts in Paris with renowned professors such as Luc-Olivier Merson (1846-1920), Jules Joseph Lefebvre (1834-1912) and Henri-Lucien Doucet (1856-1895). He lived in Paris in the 2eme arrondissement, and met his future wife, Charlotte Morel, one of the first women to be admitted to mixed classes at the Beaux-Arts.
Ménard regularly exhibited his Breton landscapes, portraits and genre scenes at the Salon of French artists starting in 1894, and he obtained a mention in 1923. He also exhibited at the Salon d'Hiver between 1923 to 1937. He passed away in Paris in 1938 at the age of 81.
The history of his atelier is largely unknown but remarkably the collection remained largely intact.
I was immediately taken by Ménard's style and the level of his mastery with portraits. We were lucky enough to buy a number of these studies and portraits, which we will be bringing to the September drop. Here are just a few examples:
The extremely beautiful portraits were wonderful to discover for their diversity and the strong aesthetics. And then there are the landscapes! Both large and small, the landscapes are a museum-level collection unto themselves.
These are the kinds of landscapes I've always loved most, and the reason I got into painting collecting. Ménard's impressionist landscapes are truly quintessential, with their sweetness of color, and powerful skies. I have to say that in the thousands (even tens of thousands, when I do the math) of paintings I've looked at over the past 4 years as a buyer, these are very rare examples of excellent in their talent of artistry and pure emotion evoked.
Putting the portraits and landscapes together, there is a style for just about everyone in this one artist atelier collection!
Furthermore, he did collect the works of other artists, including the work of his wife, Charlotte Morel -- more to come on her soon! So there will be an additional group of paintings in this collection from various artists, and he had a wonderful collector's eye as well.
The drop will be September 30th at 12 noon PST / 3pm EST / 9pm in Paris. Add the event to your calendar!
Kim Carleton on
A bit ago there was a painting talking about being dropped in March and it was called “the door”I believe. But when I search the door on your website another painting comes up and it’s not the one I saw. The one I saw seemed to talk about being dropped in March can you lead me to it so I can look at it?
French Art Shop on
Hi Donna!
Thank you so much! We have to keep these ones available at the drop time to be fair and transparent. Thank you so much for being here and fingers crossed! x
Donna Comstock on
I am really interested in the portrait of the old man with the beard. Any presales?