Charles Jaffeux (1902–1941) Bathing Near Champeaux, Auvergne. Murols School, Charreton, Pérouse

A superb and rare new oil on panel by Charles Jaffeux depicting a bathing scene near Champeaux in Auvergne, signed lower left and titled on the back "near Champeaux + ??? "
Dimensions of the painting alone (unframed): 25x30 cm; 39x44 cm including the frame.
Painting on wood in very good original condition, delivered in its period natural wood frame
Authenticity guaranteed.
P.S.: For your information, I’m also offering a very beautiful engraving by Jaffeux—see my other listing.

This is a magnificent Post-Impressionist composition by Charles Jaffeux, who depicts here a lively bathing scene in Auvergne, near Champeaux, I believe around 1920–1930. Jaffeux employs his characteristic brushwork as well as his consistently subtle palette, featuring here a beautiful monochrome range of greens, browns, pink, white, blue, and a magnificent sky blue.
I began my listing with “rare” because, indeed, Jaffeux’s works are extremely rare on the market; this is personally only the third one I’ve offered in 25 years; this rarity is partly due to the painter’s early death, and also because most collectors in the Auvergne region jealously guard his works, and even at auctions they rarely come up for sale.

Charles Jaffeux, born on January 17, 1902, in Riom, where he died on March 14, 1941, was a French painter and printmaker.

Charles Jaffeux was born on January 17, 1902, in Riom.His father, François Jaffeux, a watchmaker and jeweler in Riom, was a watercolorist and an avid painter. A student at the École des Beaux-Arts in Clermont-Ferrand, then at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied under Charles Albert Waltner (1846–1925), he also attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. He was associated with the artists of the Murol School, notably Charreton and Perouse.
He married Mrs. Tixier; together they had five children: François, Paul, Jean, Thérèse, and Pierre.
Upon returning to Auvergne, he began producing etchings of the region’s monuments, which he had published as postcards; this provided him with a comfortable income, allowing him to devote himself to painting the landscapes of Auvergne. He also drew and painted towns and people from other regions, particularly Brittany, as well as landscapes of the Alps and Provence.
His body of engraved work comprises more than 436 pieces depicting views—some with figures, some without—of Auvergne, the southern Massif Central, the Alps, Brittany, the Central-West region, Normandy, and southern France, as well as views of Bourges, Lyon, Paris, and Pérouges. He excels at rendering historic buildings and old walls.
Charles Jaffeux exhibited twice at the Salon of the Société nationale des beaux-arts, in 1935 and 1936, where he presented copperplate engravings.
Charles Jaffeux died on March 14, 1941
Jaffeux is, of course, listed in all catalogs dealing with the Murols or Murol school, alongside Charreton, Pérouse, Zingg, Busset, etc....