Saïn Paul (1853-1908) "schoolchildren On The Road To Avignon" Provence France Paris Vaucluse

SAÏN Paul (1853 - 1908)

"Schoolchildren on the road to Avignon"

Oil on canvas,
Signed lower right,
Former fragment of collector's label on back on frame,

Beautiful, luminous work by Avignon painter Paul Saïn depicting the road to Avignon between Villeneuve-lez-Avignon and Les Angles. At the top of Bellevue, several schoolchildren can be seen walking down the white road towards Villeneuve, with the Bellevue café on the right.
The painter paid particular attention to detail and played with the play of light.

Paul Saïn was considered one of the great landscape painters of his day, along with Henri Joseph Harpignies.

A student of Guilbert d'Anelle and Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris, Paul Saïn exhibited at the Salon des Artistes français in 1879 and 1907, where he won numerous awards. He also won bronze medals at the 1889 and 1900 Universal Exhibitions. Paul Saïn was awarded the Palmes académiques in 1887 and the Légion d'honneur in 1895.
His submissions of cheerful Mediterranean landscapes and Seine et Oise to the exhibitions won awards from the jury and were much appreciated by collectors.
He attended many provincial Salons, winning numerous prizes.
In 1887, he traveled to Algeria.
In 1900, he painted the canvases Avignon and Villeneuve les Avignon for the Train Bleu restaurant at Gare de Lyon in Paris.
Paul Saïn often came to the small village of Saint-Céneri-le-Gérie in the Sarthe region, where he would eventually reside for 25 years, along with Henri Joseph Harpignies and Mary Renard.

His works are today conserved in many museums in France.

Nb: Some minor old restorations visible on the back of the canvas, without incidence, are to be noted.