Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

Marthe Alers-Abran
Evening Prayer in The Polish Mountains by woman artist large jewel coloured oil

circa 1905

$4,600
£3,492.89
€3,994.38
CA$6,426.87
A$7,148.08
CHF 3,732.50
MX$86,984.52
NOK 47,669.78
SEK 44,705.85
DKK 29,811.58
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

It is always wonderful to be able to do original research on a mysterious painting by a mysterious artist. Born in Paris in 1867, Marthe Alers-Abran died tragically young in the same City, aged only 41, in 1908. She had married Charles Alers, an engineer, in 1897, and taught drawing, like many female artists at the time. However, unlike many woman artists in her time, she gained entry to the exclusive Salon des Artistes Français, obtaining an honourable mention in 1893 and a medal in 1896. What intrigued me about the painting by her was that there was nothing Parisian, or even French about the scene it depicts. How did she come to paint it? I think I found the answer. Marthe was not only a painter, but also a sculptor – and a very good one at that, too. I have not been able to establish to what extend she worked and studied with Rodin, but she certainly had a connection to his, her name appearing in his studio archives. And it was certainly in Rodin’s studio that she met, and became friends with, fellow sculptor Sophie Postolska, a French woman of Polish origin, who was exactly the same age as she. Like Camille Claudel before her, Marthe’s friend Sophie was not only Rodin’s student, but also his muse and lover. When Rodin broke up with Sophie in 1904, she tried to kill herself with Mercury Chloride, was admitted to the Hôpital Broussais. Once released, she started travelling, spending time in Krakow, Vienna, and Zakopane, a town at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, with a thriving artistic community. This is where Marthe came to visit, and where she painted this beautiful, jewel coloured scene depicting local women at evening prayer in the fields. For me, this painting evokes memories of witnessing unfamiliar scenes in distant countries: that strange feeling of being present-yet-detached at the same time, of discovery. With her immense talent, I wonder how famous Marthe might have become if she had lived longer. In the year before her death, she exhibited paintings both at the Chateau de Rohan in Strasburg, and in an exhibition of French art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. She featured in Walter Shaw Sparrow’s book Women Painters of the World, an overview of prominent women painters from 1413 to 1905, the year of publication. The purpose of the book was to prove wrong the statement that ‘the achievements of women painters have been second-rate’- which I suppose was an almost radical cause at the time! Marthe’s work may well be gaining traction again. The Museum of Toulouse holds a work by Marthe, and her painting “Tigers in the Jungle” features in a more recent reference work on woman artists by Dr Sara Gray.
  • Creator:
    Marthe Alers-Abran (1867 - 1908, French)
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1905
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 31.5 in (80 cm)Width: 36.23 in (92 cm)Depth: 1.58 in (4 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Norwich, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU99137878952

More From This Seller

View All
Barbizon Village scene ladies chatting on the street 19th century rural painting
Located in Norwich, GB
Antoine Williams Zarra (1820-1892) was an international man of mystery. When not painting in the rural village of Barbizon and its environs, he was mo...
Category

Mid-19th Century Barbizon School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Rural Life in Summer: 19th C Island Village Scene, Figures and Animals painting
By Charles Joshua Chaplin
Located in Norwich, GB
A wonderful and idyllic, mid 19th Century summery village scene, where a pretty young girl stands, knitting (perhaps she is secretly waiting for someone?), village women eat and work...
Category

Mid-19th Century French School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

French Barbizon rural landscape: young girls chatting by the village gates
Located in Norwich, GB
Godefroy de Hagemann (1820-1877) was a member of the Hanover dynasty, of German Princes. His full name was Godefroy Auguste Christian Volfgann baron de Hagemann, or Godefroy de Hagem...
Category

Mid-19th Century Barbizon School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Boy in a landscape, large art deco period painting
Located in Norwich, GB
This luminous landscape is perfectly capturing the light of early spring. A boy is climbing over wooden farm gates, with a backdrop of rolling hills. The painting has a gloriously fr...
Category

1930s French School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Mountain Dwelling: 19th Century landscape bearing Corot signature on verso
By Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Located in Norwich, GB
Our 19th Century painting of a mountain dwelling, bathed in soft light light is a fresh and relevant as if it had been created yesterday. Painted certainly in plein air on the motif,...
Category

Mid-19th Century Barbizon School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Sunset near Barbizon, animated Village Street Scene, Galien Laloue pseudonym
By Eugene Galien-Laloue
Located in Norwich, GB
An atmospheric sunset after the rain. The light reflected on the still-wet street is creating the most beautifully shimmering light. Two village women carrying baskets are chatting, ...
Category

1890s Barbizon School Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

You May Also Like

Chapel in the Alps – Original Oil Painting, Alpine School, 1937. Signed F. Weitz
Located in Zofingen, AG
The painting bears the signature “F. Weitz” and is dated either 1935 or 1937, the last digit being slightly obscured by impasto. Based on the technique, materials, and style, the work can be confidently attributed to the mid-1930s Alpine School tradition. This evocative oil painting, captures a serene Alpine chapel set against the majestic backdrop of mountain peaks and evergreen trees. The composition is emblematic of the Alpine School — a tradition encompassing artists from Switzerland, Austria, Bavaria, and Tyrol, who celebrated the natural beauty and spiritual atmosphere of the Alpine region. Painted in rich oil on canvas with confident impasto strokes, the work displays a masterful use of the palette knife, lending the surface a textured, tactile quality. The chapel, modest yet iconic, sits nestled among rocks and fir trees, with a vibrant bouquet of red and orange flowers in its arched window. The color palette is earthy and harmonious, with soft sky tones and strong architectural contrasts — hallmarks of early 20th-century alpine landscape painting...
Category

Early 20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

"At Sunrise in the Mountains" Oil Painting
By Ulrich Gleiter
Located in Denver, CO
Ulrich Gleiter's (EUR based) "At Sunrise in the Mountains" is an oil painting that depicts the textural hillside of a mountain landscape with blue skies overhead. Bio/Artist Statement: German-born artist Ulrich Gleiter (b. 1977) is noted for his landscapes. His style is sometimes reminiscent of German expressionism and the Russian impressionists. He first studied at the Dresden Academy of Arts and later at the Repin Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His work has been recognized with awards in the USA and in Russia and been featured in books and magazines. "Ulrich Gleiter is a citizen of the world. Born in Saarbrücken, Germany, he pursued his undergraduate studies at Dresden’s Academy of Fine Arts, where he learned to paint with the bold, colorful strokes handed down from the early 20th-century German expressionists. Students there prioritized their individuality — no one but you could have made this picture, they were told. Gleiter then absorbed a different view of artistry during his exchange year at Moscow’s Surikov Institute, followed by six more years at the Repin Institute in St. Petersburg. Today Gleiter divides time between Germany, Russia, and the United States, where he has become much admired among plein-airists in such scenic places as Colorado, California, and Wyoming. In our era of diplomatic tensions, when Crimea and Russia appear regularly in the headlines, Gleiter feels a renewed appreciation for nature’s timelessness — for its inspiring capacity to rise above the ins-and-outs of man-made problems. Today, he says, “I often think about the history of an area where I am painting, about how many troubles and beautiful things may have happened there. Most importantly, I am humbled to observe how natural forces never stop moving.” Gleiter turns his searching eye not only to wilderness, but also to the banalities of urban life — to parked cars, the glinting sprawl of an automobile dealer’s lot, retail stores, and even cargo ships. There, too — as in his portraits, nudes, and still lifes — he manages to find abstracted beauty and emotional significance in the interactions of light, color, and air." ( by Peter Trippi, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, 01/2017) SOLO- AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS 2018: SANDAU&LEO Gallery, Berlin. 2017: Gallery 1261...
Category

2010s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Josef Märtiner - Framed Mid 20th Century Oil, Evening in the Karwendel
Located in Corsham, GB
An original landscape painting by the Austrian artist Josef Märtiner. Here, the artist has used short, sharp brushstrokes to depict an alpine vista with mountain lodges to the foregr...
Category

20th Century Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

Vintage French Oil Painting Purple French Mountains Landscape
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: Leon Hatot (French 1883-1953) Title: Impressionist oil painting Medium: signed oil painting on thick paper, stuck on board unframed. Size: painting: 13 x 20 inche...
Category

Early 20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Sunset in the mountains", Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
One of a kind original Oil painting by Ukrainian artist Alisa Onipchenko-Cherniakovska - Canvas painting stretched and ready to hang (NOT FRAMED. The sides are painted with acrylic. ...
Category

2010s Impressionist Paintings

Materials

Oil

“Alpine valley” Original impressionistic landscape. Framed. Oil painting.
Located in Oslo, NO
This artwork captures a breathtaking landscape where majestic mountains rise prominently in the background. The rugged, textured peaks are depicted with meticulous detail, showcasing...
Category

2010s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil