Georges Gobeau, Known As Gobô (1876-1958), The Market Of Douarnenez, Framed Aquatint

Georges GOBEAU, known as GOBÔ (1876-1958)
The Market of Douarnenez
Aquatint on Arches laid paper
Late 19^th - early 20^th century
Gilt frame
Signed lower right

Paper is sun-faded and there are a few stains on the paper, but the colors remain very beautiful and vibrant in tones and forms reminiscent of Nabis prints.

Dimensions: 53 x 43 x 2 cm
Sheet dimensions: 49 x 39 cm

Georges Gobeau, born June 19, 1876 in San Francisco and died at age 82 on July 6, 1958 in Rezé, was a French painter, illustrator, lithographer and engraver, a member of the Société des peintres-graveurs français (Society of French Painter-Engravers).

He was born in San Francisco where his father, originally from the Charente region, had come to make his fortune after participating in the Mexican War. In 1882, his father died, and his family returned to France, settling in Angoulême.

Georges Gobeau became an apprentice to a lithographic printer in Angoulême. He developed a passion for drawing, lithography, watercolor, and painting. In 1900, he moved to Angers and became a member of the Society of Friends of the Arts, which invited him to exhibit his first works at its 1900 Salon.

Georges Gobeau adopted the pseudonym "Georges Gobo" (or "Gobô"). In 1907, he created his first etching on zinc plates. In 1908, he exhibited for the first time in Paris, at the Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts. From then on, Georges Gobo participated in regional and national exhibitions. He settled in Paris in 1911. He exhibited his etchings and lithographs at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1916 and 1926, and his drawings and paintings at Bernheim Jeune in 1919 and then at Durand-Ruel in 1925.

Subsequently, Gobo traveled abroad to Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Morocco. There, he painted canvases or sketches of daily life (Venice Market) and landscapes, which he then reproduced on copper.

However, it was in France, between his homes in Douarnenez in Brittany (where our print was made) and Angers, that he found his artistic inspiration. He produced numerous lithographs, etchings (notably six etchings of the city of Parthenay), wash drawings, and paintings. He also travels to Saint-Jean de Luz and Auvergne, where he regularly participates in the famous Murol School.

He meets the Angevin poet Auguste Pinguet with whom he shares the same sensibility and a common passion for old books. They crisscrossed the Anjou and Breton countryside in search of pictorial motifs and poetic themes.

Georges Gobeau died on July 6, 1958, in Rezé, near Nantes. The works from his studio were dispersed at auction on July 1, 1991, at Drouot.
A retrospective was dedicated to him in February-April 2009 at the Grand Théâtre in Angers.

He received numerous prizes and distinctions, including:
-The Puvis de Chavannes Prize (Grand Prize of the National Society of Fine Arts), 1933.
-Several gold medals for painting, engraving, and art books, 1937 Universal Exposition.
-Grand Prize for Engraving from the National Society of Fine Arts, 1939.
-Charles Cottet Prize, 1945.
-Gillot-Dard Prize, 1950.