Georges Darnet (1859-1936) View Of The Isle At The Charriéras Mill, Périgueux

Georges DARNET
(Périgueux 1859 - 1936)
View of the Isle at the Charriéras Mill
Oil on canvas
H. 43.5 cm; W. 61 cm
Signed lower right

Provenance: Private collection, Auxerre

Georges Darnet was born in Périgueux, into a family of tailors originally from the banks of the Dordogne River around Lalinde on his father's side and a family of butchers from the departmental capital on his mother's side. He grew up and continued his studies in Périgueux before moving to Bordeaux to attend the School of Fine Arts. Unfortunately, we do not know the details of his life or career, but we do know that he studied under Louis Auguin, the famous Bordeaux painter known for his depictions of the dunes along the Atlantic coast. It was undoubtedly through apprenticeship alongside his master that he would opt for works with light and luminous hues, where color never overshadows the ethereal atmosphere. Upon his return to Périgueux after his studies, Georges Darnet became a professor at the city's drawing school, directed by Jean-Georges Pasquet. This painter, eight years his senior, would become his close friend. They worked side by side on the subject during their free days. He was mobilized during the First World War, at the age of 55, and was wounded three times until February 1918, which earned him the Croix de Guerre, without even being demobilized. He did not, however, abandon his brushes, and even presented his works at the Salon des Artistes Français, of which he had already been a member in his youth, and where he obtained an honorable mention in 1920 and a third medal in 1928.

A subject known during the beginning of his career in the 1890s, the mill of Charriéras upstream from Trélissac was painted from every angle by Georges Darnet, like a large painting acquired by the Friends of the MAAP in Périgueux about ten years ago depicting the same subject (but poorly identified). Darnet's palette moved towards pastel tones as his career progressed, the evolution of which we see here, working to diffuse masses in light, without using overly soft colors.