Marcel Peltier - The Armada In Rouen

Large oil on canvas by Marcel Peltier depicting strollers at the Rouen Armada.

Oil: 60 x 73 cm; frame: 68.5 x 81.5 cm.

Peltier was born in Louviers in 1924. A sailor with the Compagnie Transatlantique for eight years, he discovered the world, particularly America, before returning to Rouen where he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts. While hospitalized, he met Pierre Bonnard's nephew in a neighboring room. The two men became friends. Encouraged by the medical staff, they moved into the same room, which they transformed into a veritable studio. Peltier would later work with Lucien Fontanarosa and Fernand Élie. His painting, predominantly blue, plays with reflections like a vast mirror enlivened by touches of vibrant color.

Thus, this lively view of the Armada, featured on the artist's website, is particularly representative of his work. Indeed, a blue-grey chromatic range is enhanced by the characters' outfits, the flag-bedecked sailboats, and the red pompom of the sailor taking a photograph in the foreground.