Louis Bosa

Mid-20th Century Venetian Canal Cityscape, Italian-American artist

c. 1950

Louis Bosa (American, 1905-1981) Cathedral in Venice Oil on canvas Signed lower left 60.25 x 40.25 inches 66.5 x 46.5 inches, framed Born in Codroipo, a small village only a few mi...

Louis Bosa (American, 1905–1981) Bucks County, 1934 Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower right 17.5 x 21.5 inches 25.5 x 29 inches, framed Born in Codroipo, a small village only a f...

Claude Venard (French, 1913 - 1999) Venice Canal, Italy, circa 1950-55 Oil on canvas 24 x 24 inches Signed lower center Provenance: Private Collection, Massachusetts The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Galerie Felix Vercel. Claude Venard was a notable exponent of the French mid-century post-Cubist movement. He was born to bourgeois parents from Burgogne in Paris, on March 21, 1913. At the age of 17, he enrolled and attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, but remained for only two days, not adhering to the school's academic style. Instead, he spent the following six years at the École des Arts Appliqués, taking evening classes and embracing the contemporary Parisian art scene, all the while becoming recognized in its circles. Not able to support himself as an artist, by 1936 he found employment as a restorer at the Louvre, further honing his artistic skills. Paris of the period was dominated by an art trend that strongly favored abstraction. Following a group show at the Galerie Billet-Worms in 1935, art critic Waldemar George declared: "Let's be young again! Painting is not dead… Its course has not stopped. Forces Nouvelles is born." Venard contributed and initially adhered to the strict disciplines of the Forces Nouvelle group. But as with many of his fellow members, he soon abandoned it seeking individual expression. Following WWII, Venard rekindled friendships with past Forces Nouvelles members, joining Pierre Tal-Coat, André Marchand, André Civet...

Paul Désiré Trouillebert Canal Pinelli, Venise Signed lower left Oil on canvas 18 3/4 x 12 3/8 inches Provenance: Artist's studio sale, 1887, no. 4 With M. Newmann London Sale, Christie's, London, Save the Children Fund, May 16, 1961 (according to an inscription on the reverse) Private Collection, United Kingdom Literature: Marumo et al, Paul Désiré Trouillebert: Catalogue Raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Stuttgart, 2004, cat. no. 0362 p. 336, illustrated. Paul Désiré Trouillebert was born in Paris in 1829 and died in the city June 28, 1900. He is considered a portrait, genre and landscape painter from the French Barbizon School. He was a student of Ernest Hébert [1817-1908] and Charles-François Jalabert [1819-1901], and made his debut at the Salon of 1865, exhibiting a portrait. At the Paris Salon of 1869, Trouillebert exhibited “Au bois Rossignolet”, which was a lyrical Fontainebleau landscape that received great critical acclaim. Trouillebert concentrated on portraits until about 1881, when he began to focus on atmospheric silvery landscapes steeping in cool damp color. In 1882, he exhibited a large landscape titled “Baignneuses” which was well received and helped him gain a reputation as a landscape painter. Another noted work was commissioned by Edmé Piot, a public works contractor. The painting, “Travaux de relèvement du chemin de fer de ceinture: le pont du Cours de Vincennes” (Cleveland Museum) was of a railway project initiated in 1851, after Napoleon III came to power. The commission included four related views of the Paris railway construction, which was completed in February 1889. After the 1860’s, the misty Barbizon landscapes by Jean-Baptist- Camille Corot’s [1796-1875] had become astonishingly vogue, which brought about a trove of imitators. His followers and students; Henri Joseph Constant Dutilleux [1807-1865], George Devillers, Achille François Oudinot [1820-1901], Edouard Brandon [1831-1887] and Trouillebert were not trying to mislead the public, he was their idol. However, the greatest confusion has always been over works by Corot and Trouillebert because both artists painted river landscapes at dawn or dusk with a very similar approach, palette and style. Like Corot, Trouillebert painted a wide variety of subjects, including genre scenes, portraits and nudes. Trouillebert would receive the most attention as a result of an 1883 court case involving one of his paintings. The painting “La Fontaine des Gabourets” had been sold by one of Paris’ more prominent dealers George Petit to writer Alexandre Dumas fils. Trouillebert’s signature and been removed and resigned Corot. The fake was discovered by Robaut and Bernheim-Jeune and returned to the original seller, Tedesco. Trouillebert, who had nothing to do with the fraud, brought legal action against the guilty parties to regain his reputation and clear his name. The trial made all of the papers and Trouillebert won his case. George Pettit...