Charles Fromuth (1866-1937) Charcoal Drawing "concarneau At Low Tide" Brittany

Charcoal drawing by Charles Fromuth, signed, dated, and countersigned with a stamp in the lower left corner. Located and dated on the back. Dimensions: 30 x 17 cm (sight size) and 48 x 32 cm (framed). Dated 1923 and inscribed "Souvenir of low tide at Concarneau" Nov 1894, with inventory number on the back. Charles Fromuth studied painting at the Philadelphia School of Fine Arts under Thomas Eakins; he discovered Europe and Paris in 1889 and first visited Concarneau and Pont-Aven in 1890. With the exception of a trip to the United States in 1910, he spent the rest of his life in Concarneau, staying at the Hôtel de France in this sardine fishing port. At the 1900 Universal Exposition, he discovered Japanese art, and in particular Hokusai. Fromuth shares the Japanese perspective on nature, revering the sea, which is never merely decorative but an essential subject, studied in all its forms. His entire oeuvre is devoted to depicting the movement of boats, primarily in the port of Concarneau. "Movement is the central idea of my work," wrote Charles Fromuth. He exhibited regularly in Europe, winning various prizes and medals, until 1910. After that date, he ceased exhibiting and led a reclusive life entirely dedicated to his pastels and charcoal drawings of boats fleeing under sail. The work presented here, "modernist in inspiration," is an example of his production from the 1920s. The Pont-Aven Museum of Fine Arts dedicated an exhibition to him in 1989.