Marie-paule Carpentier - Les Pins - Watercolor Drawing

Watercolor drawing on paper
Signed lower left "MARIE-PAULE CARPENTIER"
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Painter, watercolorist and pastellist, Marie-Paule Carpentier began her artistic career at the Salon in 1894 by presenting herself in the booklet as a student of her older sister, Madeleine. She later added two renowned painters as teachers: Luc-Olivier Merson and Raphaël Collin.A prolific artist, she exhibited with the Société des artistes français, the Société nationale des beaux-arts, the Indépendants, the Salon d'Automne, the Aquarellistes...
Her production focused mainly on landscapes, although she also addressed, more occasionally, the female nude. She draws her inspiration from the Palace of Versailles, Brittany, Alsace and Arcachon, but also exhibits non-situated views, including numerous studies of trees. "In love with forests and parks, Marie-Paule Carpentier studied trees like a portraitist, worthy of the name, studies a face," writes Édouard Sarradin in the preface to the catalog of her posthumous exhibition at the Georges Petit gallery.
The watercolor drawing presented is typical of her way of working, with the use of black pencil to define the forms, followed by coloring with watercolor. The choice of framing, with the two partially truncated pines in the foreground, and the kakemono format testify to the influence of Japonism for this composition paying homage to nature.