362 - Achille Gaston MARCHAL (1874–?)

Achille Gaston MARCHAL (1874–?) Village Scenes Two oil paintings on wood panel Signed lower right and lower left 46 x 37.5 cm (Signs of wear, slight losses) Description: Born in 1874, Achille Gaston Marchal belonged to the generation of Post-Impressionist landscape painters who came of age at the turn of the century, contemporaries of Pierre-Eugène Montézin—born the same year—and Gustave Loiseau. A former student of the École des Beaux-Arts, he focused primarily on landscapes of Seine-et-Marne, particularly the quays of Crécy-en-Brie, which he painted on several occasions, and brought back views of Venice and oases from his travels. These two village scenes illustrate his devotion to plein air painting and to motifs from rural France, in a tradition that—from Camille Corot to Alfred Sisley—has made the Île-de-France region one of the prime settings for French landscape painting.