Emilie Charmy (1877 - 1974), The Seine At Ablons

Signed lower left. With frame. Oil on canvas.

In La Seine à Ablons by Émilie Charmy, the composition opens onto a landscape bisected by the Seine beneath a sky animated by drifting clouds. In the distance, a train glides discreetly—hinted at by a dark, elongated line, a symbol of modernity and movement that contrasts with the surrounding calm of nature. To the right, a boat resting on the water introduces a tranquil note, evoking everyday riverside life.

In the foreground, the vegetation is rendered with vigorous strokes, its nearly abstract forms conveying the spontaneity of the artist’s hand. Fresh hues and broad brushstrokes imbue the scene with vitality, caught between the sky’s agitation and the river’s serenity. Charmy thus captures the landscape’s duality: the subtle imprint of human presence—embodied by the train and the boat—engages in dialogue with the expressive force of nature, revealing the full modernity of her vision.

In 1898, Émilie Charmy left Saint-Étienne to move to Lyon with her brother Jean, where she trained under the painter Jacques Martin. She first exhibited in Paris in 1903 at the Indépendants, and in 1904, she settled with her brother in Saint-Cloud. She specialized in still life, which she regularly exhibited at the Indépendants between 1903 and 1914 (except in 1910) and at the Salon d'Automne from 1905 to 1912. Charmy also participated in several group exhibitions at the Berthe Weill gallery.
It was at these exhibitions, which brought together artists like Matisse and Girieud, that she met her future companion, Charles Camoin, in 1906. Together, they traveled around the Mediterranean in the summer of 1906. From 1904 to 1912, she primarily created still lifes, landscapes, and figures with well-structured forms.
In 1912, as her relationship with Camoin deteriorated, she met Georges Bouche, and she joined him in Auvergne during the summer. Her landscapes then evolved: she used blocks of green and lively brushstrokes to depict trees, creating compositions with shallow depth. Despite her modest financial situation, the critic Louis Vauxcelles referred to her in 1921 as "one of the most remarkable women artists of our time" (L'Éclair, June 23, 1921).