Eugène Cicéri - Corner Of The Cliff At Le Pollet In Dieppe

Oil on canvas by Eugène Cicéri depicting a section of the cliff at Le Pollet.

Dimensions: 51 x 60 cm; with frame: 67 x 80 cm

Eugène Cicéri (1813–1890) received his early training from his uncle Eugène Isabey. Influenced by the Barbizon School, he settled in Marlotte and painted the landscapes around Fontainebleau. He exhibited for the first time at the Salon in 1851 and soon turned to travel, which would enrich his sources of aesthetic inspiration. He traveled to Brittany, Normandy, and the East. He used not only his sketches but also photographs, a body of work that brought him closer to the Realists than to his Romantic predecessors.

This oil on canvas, painted in Dieppe—a large-scale work for the artist—was part of his final submission to the Salon. A true summary of his oeuvre, it is also a summary of Normandy. Indeed, we see the interplay of water, earth, and rock, as well as the contrast between man and nature. The wooden fences—the only element hinting at human presence—appear quite fragile in the face of the force of the churning sea in the background.

Exhibitions:

-1890 Salon, no. 537.

-“Landscapes from 1860 to 1920,” Musée Daubigny, Auvers-sur-Oise, 1993, no. 13.

-“Boudin and the Painters in Honfleur,” Tokyo Museum of Fine Arts, December 21–February 2, 1996, no. 128.

Provenance:

-Barrie-Chevalier Collection