Classical Statue in the Parc at Versailles, Post-Impressionist Oil on Wood Panel, Circa 1930

Emile Marie Beaume  

French mid century view of a classical statue in the park at Versaille, oil on panel, by Emile-Marie Beaume. The painting is signed and located to the back of the panel. presented in a fine patinated and decorated wood frame. 

A solitary classical figure stands poised atop a stone plinth. This oil painting captures a moment of stillness within the manicured gardens at Versaille. The composition centres on a classical statue. It rises against a pale, luminous sky. Soft brushstrokes define the surrounding greenery. Deep emerald hedges flank the scene. They create a structured boundary against the organic flow of the trees. 

The artist employs a muted palette. Pale blues and earthy ochres dominate the landscape. Light washes over the stone, suggesting a hazy afternoon. The perspective draws the eye toward the horizon. A low wall guides the viewer through the spatial arrangement. There is a quiet dignity in the posture of the sculpture. It remains an eternal observer of the changing seasons. The texture of the paint adds a tactile quality to the masonry. Every stroke reinforces the harmony between art and nature. The artwork evokes a sense of timelessness. It reflects the elegance of formal landscapes. The scene concludes with the subtle reflection of the pedestal in a nearby pool of water.

 French painter, lithographer, engraver and fresco artist, Émile Marie Beaume was born in Pézenas in 1888. From childhood, his family immersed him in a rich cultural and artistic life, in particular his father, Georges Beaume, novelist and art critic. His father's close friends, Alphonse Daudet, Pierre Loti, as well as Marshal Lyautey, fed the young boy's imagination, and he quickly developed a strong taste for the Orient and travel.

 Emile-Marie Beaume studied at the Beaux-Arts de Paris in the studios of the painters Fernand Cormon, François Flameng and Adolphe Déchenauld. A talented draughtsman, the artist was assigned to the army's cartography service when war broke out in 1914. There he produced plans and topographical surveys. In 1917, Beaume was mobilized in Morocco by the French army. This trip would profoundly influence his work.

 In Morocco, Beaume begins to paint street scenes and portraits Back in France at the end of the conflict, Emile Beaume continues to paint in this vein, delivering luminous landscapes of the Maghreb alongside his street scenes. In 1921, he received the First Grand Prix de Rome for an oil on canvas entitled "Burying Saint Anthony". The artist subsequently became a recognized master of wall decoration and fresco art, carrying out numerous monumental commissions for private mansions, casinos and public buildings. 

From 1927 to 1932, he was a professor of drawing at the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins. Emile Beaume continued his travels in North Africa. During the Colonial Exhibition in Paris in 1931, he decorated part of the Madagascar Pavilion. In 1937, his panels depicting scenes from North Africa were at the International Exhibition. Winner of the French Equatorial Africa Prize in 1937, he travelled to Oubangui-Chari, Chad and the Belgian Congo.

 After the Second World War, the artist devoted himself to the decoration of the palaces of the great Moroccan and Ethiopian families. In 1945, he painted a fresco for the Governor's Palace of Djibouti. In 1948, in Casablanca, he decorated a villa for the King of Morocco. Émile Marie Beaume died in 1967 The artist donated his studio to Pézenas, his hometown, in 1950 

Bibliography Thornton Lynne, The Africanists, Travelling Painters: 1860-1960, ACR Edition