Henri Gervex (1852-1929), Beach Scene - The Bathing

Henri Gervex (1852-1929) Beach Scene - Swimming on the Normandy coast Trouville - Deauville (?) Oil on cardboard signed lower left Size of the work: 24 x 33 cm Size with the frame: 37 x 46 cm Bibliography: related: 'Henri Gervex, 1852-1929', cat. exp., Paris-Musées, 1992. 'A Century of Sea Baths in the Seine Estuary, 1830-1930', cat. exp., Honfleur, Eugène Boudin Museum, 2003, p. 126 and 127. Gervex, marine painter. If one of the most important aspects of Gervex's production is his work as a landscaper, it is often difficult to date with precision the very many seascapes showing the Normandy coast, mainly Deauville and Trouville that his work includes. At his beginnings, he rubbed shoulders with Eugène Boudin, as Claude Monet, his elder brother, did before him. The attested presence of the young Parisian painter in Deauville was confirmed from the end of the 1870s, even if in the 80s, he rather went to Dieppe at the Blanche's, in the company of Edgar Degas or Ludovic Halevy. It seems that, until the very end of his life, Gervex was familiar with the seaside of Normandy, staying at the time like Proust at the Manoir des Frémonts in Trouville. When in 1924 the only retrospective exhibition carried out during Gervex's lifetime was organized by the Charpentier gallery, faubourg Saint Honoré, the catalog included 33 views of Deauville / Trouville alone on the 101 landscapes presented…