Félix ZIEM (1821-1911) [FRANCE] - Lot 5

Félix ZIEM (1821-1911) [FRANCE] Tartane sailing off Martigues Oil on cardboard. Signed lower right. 37 x 55.5 cm (Crackling, traces of glue, small missing parts under the frame) Related work: A larger work (82 x 127 cm) can be found in Volume II of Pierre Miquel's catalog. In the second half of the twentieth century, art history revalued the landscape painter Félix Ziem as one of the precursors of Impressionism, notably for the fluidity of his atmospheres and the dissolution of contours executed with free, varied brushstrokes. Our painting testifies to his modernity through its fine study of the light of sunset, which dissolves forms and melts details, as well as its use of colored shadows. We can also admire the sobriety and modernity of the composition: the horizontal dominance of the hulls and horizon is soberly punctuated by the oblique lines of the tartan masts.