Armand Félix Abel Seguin, Still life
1880-90

About the Item

Armand Félix Abel Seguin Still life oil on canvas 45x60 cm, with frame 95x110 Signed: F. Seguint he signature could be resolved with Armand Félix Abel Seguin. Armand Félix Abel Seguin (15 April 1869, Paris - 30 December 1903, Châteauneuf-du-Faou) was the son of Armand Félix Abel Seguin (1799-1873) and Charlotte Elmore, while his grandfather Armand Jean François Seguin (1767-1835), known as "Seguin", was a well-known character: Doctor, chemist, entrepreneur, banker (he was also banker of the Bonaparte family) and owner of Seguin Island on the Loire. Very little is known about his studies in painting, his production and, in general, his life before going to Brittany. He certainly studied at the Académie Julian, where he firmly mastered drawing and engraving, while he began his career as a painter embracing the theories and techniques of Impressionism. He made his debut at the Salon des Indépendants in 1893 and returned to the Parc de Bouteville two years later. In 1889 he visited the Caffè Volpini exhibition and was deeply impressed. He then decided to join Paul Gauguin and his group. From April 1891 he moved to Brittany, to Pont-Aven, where he became a pupil of Gauguin and friend of Henry de Groux, and where he attended the Pont-Aven group. His painting then passed to clearly postimpressionist expressions and he lavished himself in the group of Nabis, participating in its foundation and early manifestations. In 1893 he went to Le Pouldu, where he taught Gauguin and Roderic O'Conor the technique of etching and aquatint. But the scarcity of economic means induced him, unwillingly, to produce commercial recordings. He worked as an illustrator (Les fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire, Manfred, a play by George Byron, Gaspard de la nuit by Aloysius Bertrand) and also made numerous prints. Between 1900 and 1901, he installed himself at Châteaulin, and also drew illustrations commissioned by Ambroise Vollard. His painting, meanwhile, underwent the strong influence of Émile Bernard and Japanese prints. Seguin remains, with Roderic O'Conor, the most original engraver among the artists of Gauguin’s circle, and his graphic work largely exceeds his pictorial production. And in spite of this, because Seguin wanted to be known and appreciated much more as a painter than as a designer and engraver. Armand Seguin is commonly referred to as the "chronicler" of the Pont-Aven group. In 1903 he wrote three articles on the constitution and objectives of the "Pont-Aven group" for the magazine The West, directed by Maurice Denis. However, because of the publisher, he could not publish his "annotations" in full. A part of the manuscripts has even been lost and the only remaining fragment is only a partial, but rare and authentic, testimony about the "school of Pont-Aven". In 1903 he went to live in Châteauneuf-du-Faou, in the atelier of his friend Paul Sérusier. But yet another bout of tuberculosis killed him. "Seguin died at the age of 34. Fragile, suffering from the evil of thinness, always in poverty, his life was a continuous struggle against adversity". The works of Seguin are extremely rare, the masterpiece proposed here could represent one of the first works of the painter. In fact, we know that Seguin before becoming friends with Paul Gauguin had a training as an impressionist painter. By analyzing the work and comparing the signature with that of other certain works of the painter we can think that this masterpiece may be one of the first early works of the great French painter.

Attributed to:

Armand Seguin (1869 - 1903, French)

Creation Year:

1880-90

Dimensions:

Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)Width: 23.63 in (60 cm)

More Editions & Sizes:

noPrice: $11,105

Medium:

Canvas,Oil

Movement & Style:

Post-Impressionist