Charcoal Drawing - Georges Ricard-cordingley - Fishing Boats Near The Shore

ARTIST: Georges Ricard-Cordingley TECHNIQUE: Fusian and white chalk highlights PERIOD: First half of the 20th century DIMENSIONS without frame: 13 x 11 cm DIMENSIONS with frame: 23 x 25 cm Sold framed. AUTHENTICITY: Original work. Georges Ricard-Cordingley (1873-1939) spent his life as a sea captain, crisscrossing lands and seas. From London to Sydney, from Newfoundland to Marrakech, from Boulogne-sur-Mer, "the essential hub of his maritime voyages," to Cannes, "the ultimate stage of his aesthetic reflections and his approach to light," he devoted himself entirely to painting, his passion, his profession, his reason for living. Ships at sea or beached, storms or calms, landscapes of lakes or cliffs overlooking the sea, Ricard-Cordingley favored a single subject throughout his life, across all latitudes: the marine environment, or the constant dialogue between sky and water. It could be reminiscent of Signac in the drawing and the precision of his line when he depicts ship construction, but it is Ricard-Cordingley. It is akin to the works of Turner when he pushes the study of light to its extreme, but it is Ricard-Cordingley. Sometimes in the way he treated the watercolor, the subtlety of the values recalls Delacroix, but it is always Ricard-Cordingley. Romantic to the tips of his brushes, he had a notable success in his lifetime equal to his talent. Among his collectors were Queen Victoria, Alexandre Dumas fils, Gordon Bennet, Pierre Loti, Jules Clarétie, and Waldeck Rousseau. His works are featured in numerous museums in France: Paris, National Maritime Museum; Paris Museum of Modern Art; Museums of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Berck-sur-Mer, and Le Touquet; Toulon, Museum of Art; Cannes, La Castre Museum; Menton, Museum of Fine Arts. Abroad: Royal Collection, England; Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA; Hermitage Museum, Pushkin Museum, Russia; and Casablanca, Morocco. Exhibitions: Salons: French Artist, National Society of Fine Arts, National Maritime Museum, Royal Academy.