Antoine-claude Ponthus-cinier (1812-1885) Mediterranean Shoreline

Antoine-Claude PONTHUS-CINIER
(Lyon, 1812 - Lyon, 1885)
Maritime Pinetrees in the Mediterranean cost
Oil on paper on cardboard
H. 36 cm ; L. 51cm
Signed lower right

Provenance:
-Collection B.R, Lyon

Ponthus-Cinier belongs to what could be defined as the third (and, as it were, last) generation of neo-classical or historical landscape painters born in the 1810s/1820s, such as Félix Lanoüe, Achille Bénouville, Paul Flandrin, Eugène Ferdinand Buttura and Alfred de Curzon. In particular, he is considered to be the leading and most popular representative of the landscape painters of the Lyon school around the mid-nineteenth century.

A generous, honestgenerous, honest and pleasant company, Ponthus-Cinierfrom a family of merchants on his mother's side and magistrates on hison his mother's side and magistrates on his father's side.parents, he preferred the artistic path, and after enrolling at theat the Lyon School of Fine Arts in 1829, and training in Paris withtraining with Paul Delaroche, he exhibited his first works at theat the Salon de Lyon in 1839, before taking part ̀ in the Salon de Paris in1841.

That same year, he was awarded the second Prix deRome for historical landscape (won by Buttura in 1837, andBénouville in 1845), beaten by Lanoüe from Versailles. To furtherto perfect his skills, Ponthus-Cinier decided to go to Italy aloneat his own expense, for a single trip between 1842 and 1844.discovered the Ligurian coast, Tuscany, Naples and, of course, Romeand the surrounding area, and produced a considerable number of studies(painted sketches or pen-and-ink sketches), which he used to composeto compose views of Italy throughout his career.

Themain qualities of Ponthus-Cinier probably lie in "the artof illuminating a canvas"as A. Jouve in the XIX^ecentury, and in his sense of perspective, sometimes trulyextraordinary; on the other hand, most of the time, he seems a littlethe figures and the transcription of details.

Our painting shows a calm view of the Mediterranean coast around 1850 in France or Italy. Under maritime pines, a hunter descends to the coastline bathed in a hot heat.