Painting By Victor Louis Cuguen (1882–1969), Norman Market, Pontorson

Victor Louis Cuguen (1882–1969)

Norman Market – Pontorson

Oil on wood, signed “Cuguen” in the lower right corner.

Canvas dimensions: 62 × 51 cm.

This original work has a unique feature: the canvas is painted on both sides.

The main side depicts a bustling market in a Norman town, featuring numerous figures, merchants, and stalls, in a particularly lively composition. The architecture, rooftops, and bell tower place the scene in a traditional urban setting. The painting is executed with a generous application of paint, heavily worked with a palette knife, using a palette of grays, browns, blues, and colorful accents.

The reverse also features an original composition: a village dominated by its church, set against a landscape of hills and mountains, rendered in a colorful and expressive impasto.

An old inscription preserved on the reverse reads, in part:

“ Cuguen – Av. Ramael – Les Lices – Toulon” as well as the notation: “Norman Market – Pontorson”

This notation is particularly interesting since Victor Louis Cuguen was born in Pontorson, Normandy. It therefore appears to identify the subject of the composition as a depiction of a market in his hometown.

The work reflects Cuguen’s highly personal style, characterized by thick impasto, a rapid and energetic brushstroke, and a predilection for scenes of everyday life and landscapes. The treatment of the figures and the composition using thick brushstrokes lend the scene great vitality and a genuine pictorial presence.

Period: first half of the 20th century, probably around 1920–1940.

Artist: Victor Louis Cuguen (1882–1969).

Technique: oil on wood, painted on both sides.

Dimensions: 62 × 51 cm unframed.

Signature: “Cuguen,” lower right.

Subject: Norman Market – Pontorson.

Distinctive feature: two original compositions painted on both sides of the same canvas.

A distinctive work, particularly interesting for a collection due to its format, its pictorial quality, its subject related to Pontorson, and above all its double-sided painting.