Seascape, Oil On Panel, Alexandre Thomas Francia (calais 1820–brussels 1884)

A magnificent, lively seascape depicting a view of the docks at sunset. This is likely the Normandy coast. Pink sky. Sailboats in the center. Signed lower left. Excellent condition. Oil on panel, modern gilded frame. The work has been cleaned, restored using traditional methods, and re-varnished. The frame has been regilded.

Size: H 53 cm x W 73 cm - H 74 cm x W 97 cm

French/Belgian school, mid-19th century.

Biography: Alexandre Thomas Francia, born in 1820 in Calais and died on July 23, 1884, in Brussels, was a watercolorist, draftsman, and etcher specializing in genre scenes, seascapes, and landscapes. The son of the French landscape painter and watercolorist François Louis Thomas Francia, Alexandre Francia pursued an international career, exhibiting at the Paris Salon between 1841 and 1866, at the Antwerp Salon in 1861 and 1864, at the Ghent Exhibition in 1862, in London, in Vienna (where he won a medal at the 1873 exhibition), and in Brussels in 1863. He enjoyed painting harbor views, fishing scenes, and stormy seas. After settling in Belgium, he was made a Knight of the Order of Leopold for his artistic achievements.

Works are held in museums in Calais and Königsberg (Poland).