“la Mer” — Maurice-claude Bertrand & Chevrier — Four-handed Piece — Royan, Circa 1950

A spectacular and profoundly unique work, " La Mer” is a vast four-handed composition by Maurice-Claude Bertrand and his wife Chevrier, two artists connected to the postwar artistic boom and the cultural life of Royan.

Painted to adorn the entrance hall of their villa in Royan, this monumental work appears to have been conceived as a true interior landscape, almost a domestic fresco. With its exceptional dimensions—190 cm high by 145 cm wide—it immediately commands attention and transforms the space that houses it.

Here, the sea is not depicted: it is recounted, imagined, and reimagined.

Fish, seaweed, shells, and aquatic creatures appear and disappear within a teeming network of black lines, organic forms, and symbols. An entire marine fauna seems to evolve within an almost totemic universe. The viewer’s gaze is deliberately lost in this dense composition, where every detail seems to possess its own symbolism.

The work is fully in keeping with the spirit of artistic freedom of the 1950s. One can discern echoes of primitivism, art brut, and postwar graphic experiments. Certain forms evoke the vocabulary of Pablo Picasso, while the spontaneity of the line and the almost instinctive use of symbols recall that generation of artists who were then seeking to break free once and for all from the classical rules of representation.

The technique itself plays a full part in this freedom.

On a large plywood panel, the artists combine painting, chalk, and drawing. The materials are layered, the lines intersect, and the white spaces emerge like flashes of light on water. The surface deliberately retains a certain roughness: the wood becomes an integral part of the composition and lends the whole a nearly primal warmth.

This work comes directly from the villa of Maurice-Claude Bertrand and Chevrier in Royan, where it adorned the entrance hall. According to its provenance history, this house was a place of artistic gatherings and friendships in Royan during the 1950s. Family tradition notably links the couple to several artists of that generation and mentions Picasso’s visit to the villa—a particularly interesting provenance detail, though one that would need to be documented in order to be presented as an established historical fact.

The state of preservation also bears witness to this history. The panel shows some signs of wear, and the paint has lost some of its vibrancy in places. Restoration should be considered, particularly to stabilize and revitalize certain areas of the composition. These signs of aging, however, in no way detract from the work’s decorative power and exceptional artistic merit.

“La Mer” is a free, instinctive, and almost mysterious work.

More than just a painting, it is a testament to an era, a home, and likely an artistic circle. A monumental work created in Royan in the 1950s, when art found its way into modern villas and became an integral part of architecture and daily life.

Maurice-Claude Bertrand & Chevrier
La Mer
Mixed media on plywood panel
Paint, chalk, and drawing
Collaborative work
Circa 1950
190 × 145 cm

work acquired directly from the family estate through direct descent