"St. Valery" by Frank Myers Boggs

About the Item

Frank Myers Boggs American 1855-1926 "St. Valery" Crayon and watercolor on paper Signed 'Frank Boggs' lower left 9 ½ by 14 in. w. frame 17 by 21 ½ in. Mixing Tonalist and Impressionist elements, Frank Myers Boggs forged a novel artistic style at the juncture of fin-de-siècle American and European traditions. Born in Ohio, Boggs trained at the École des Beaux-Arts under Jean Léon Gerôme and spent the majority of his life in Paris. There he accomplished the rare feat of gaining prominence in both the French and American art worlds. By the end of his life, Boggs had essentially transformed himself into a French Impressionist: he became a French citizen in 1923 and earned the French Legion of Honor three years later. Over the course of his career, Boggs painted harbor views of Holland, England, and France in addition to his celebrated street scenes of the Parisian quotidien. His works demonstrate an acute sensitivity to atmosphere and light and a tendency toward damp surfaces—rain-flecked streets and foggy skies—that allow a greater range of reflective effects. This interest in delicate, fleeting impressions aligned Boggs with the leading Impressionists of the day, Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Eugène Boudin, with whom he associated in Paris. Yet his subtle, tonal palette and consideration of volumetric form distinguish his work from Impressionist convention. Several authors have suggested that Boggs's sober palette derives from the influence of Johan Barthold Jongkind, a Dutch painter whose work served as a significant precursor to Impressionism. Like Boggs, Jongkind spent most of his life in Paris, where he influenced a young Monet. Boggs's work is the next link in the chain of influence running from Jongkind to Monet to the United States. His paintings exemplify the complex circuit of cultural interplay that affected American art at the turn of the century, when droves of American artists studied in Paris and cosmopolitan collectors acquired a growing taste for contemporary French art and its American interpretation. Boggs won a prize from the American Art Association in 1884 and silver medals from the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889 and the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. He exhibited at the Brooklyn Art Association, 1875, 1877-80, 1884, 1891-92; National Academy of Design 1879-90; Paris Salon, 1880-90, 1893-99; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1180, 1883, 1916; The Paris Exposition, 1889; Art Institute of Chicago, 1888, 1897, and 1908. Boggs an expatriate impressionist painter became popular in Paris. He was especially known for his views of the Seine. The French list him as "Frank Boggs" and his son, born in France is referred to as "Frank Will". Museums: Brooklyn Museum of Fine Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Luxemburg Museum, Paris; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris; Musee de Nantes

Dimensions:

Height: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)Width: 14 in (35.56 cm)Depth: 1.25 in (3.18 cm)

Place of Origin:

United States

Period:

Early 20th Century

Date of Manufacture:

Signed 'Frank Boggs' lower left

Condition:

Very good.

Seller Location:

Hillsborough, CA