The Old Staircase - Charles Cerny

Beautiful pair of watercolors signed by the artist Charles Cerny (Prague 1892 - Paris 1965), entitled "Le Vieil escalier" and "La Rampe", depicting architectural views in a romantic natural setting. Original frames and mounts. Dimensions: 21 x 15 cm each watercolor. Painter of Austro-Hungarian origin, born in Prague in 1892, Charles Cerny was first trained in Vienna and Munich. In 1913, he moved to Paris where he met the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle who would become his friend. This allowed him to participate in the Salon des Indépendants the following year in 1914. Having definitively adopted France as his country, he enlisted as a volunteer in the Foreign Legion during the First World War and went to fight in Morocco. In 1916, he married a French woman while on leave. After the war, he joined the Académie Julian and continued to participate in numerous exhibitions in the 1930s and 1940s. He even received the Rémy-Landeau Prize in 1942 and 1944. His appointment as official painter of the Navy in 1952 also allowed him to sail and produce high-quality marine works. He died in Paris in 1965.