Antoine Blanchard - A Vision of Paris: Part II
Antoine Blanchard was born in France on November 15, 1910 in a small village near the banks of the Loire. He was the eldest of three children and his father, a carver, managed a small carpentry and furniture shop. Antoine would watch his father hand carve the furniture and began to display an artistic flair early in life - in an effort to promote this talent, his parents sent him to Blois for drawing lessons. He continued his training in Rennes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts where he studied sculpture and drawing. Upon completion of his studies, he was awarded the schools highest award: Le Prix du Ministre.
By 1932 he left Rennes and traveled to Paris to study. He enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and after a few years entered the competition for the Prix de Rome. It was in Paris that he developed a love for the city and it's street life.
In 1939 Antoine married a young woman he met in Paris and in September of that year war broke out and he was called up for service. It was not until 1942 that he would return to his art. His daughter Nicole was born in 1944 - she too would follow in the family tradition and after the birth of her two daughters, she became an artist working under the name A. Champeau. It was also around this time that Antoine's father passed away and he was compelled to return to his hometown and run the family business - giving him little time to paint.
His second daughter, Evelyn, was born in 1947 and by 1948 he had given control of the family business to his younger brother and returned to Paris to paint. Contemporary life in Paris had changed and he longed for the bygone days. He began to research the Belle Époque period in Paris - reading and studying all the material on the period he could find.
Many of the subjects and scenes he portrayed were taken from images he collected of Paris during the 1890's and he would often work on paintings for days or months before he finally felt they were complete. A.P. Larde comments in his book Antoine Blanchard, His Life His Work that he has always spent much time on his work. This explains why his production has always been rather limited, unlike the hurried and multiple proliferations of some modern artists… Delicate touches of luminous and shimmering tones produce a marvelous impression of harmony, brightness and light. Alternate shadings and lights, sensitive and mellow blending allow the artist to attain a hardly-ever reached degree of grace, of radiant and glimmering freshness.
Larde continues to write that his works are first of all, a marvelous invitation to an ideal walk through old Paris, so different from that of to-day. Although a large number of historical monuments remain, today's Paris has little in common with Paris at the turn of the century; the scenery may be almost the same, but daily life as it characters has totally changed; the customs have been entirely transformed. In his paintings, Antoine Blanchard invites us to relive this period by showing us pleasant strolls along embankments, squares and boulevards at a period in Parisian life when time did not count, when one had all one's time to idle, to stroll along the streets, to window-shop, to walk quietly along the boulevards or spend the afternoon in a sidewalk café.
Like his contemporary, Édouard Cortès, he devoted his artistic career to the depiction of Paris through all its daily and seasonal changes. But he was not an imitator of Cortes, but rather depicted the life of Paris at the turn of the century from his own point of view and with his own, unique style. Larde makes an interesting comparison:
Édouard Cortès has always expressed himself in a rather rich virile style, using large and stressed touches, revealing a strength, which recalls the great masters of the XVIIIth century.
On the contrary, Antoine Blanchard has always used small strokes, with a delicate, enveloping and mellow treatment; the slight haziness which is a characteristic of his work in many ways recalls the great masters of the impressionist period.
Whether it was l'Arc de Triomphe, la Madeleine, Café de la Paix, Notre Dame or the dozens of other historical monuments and buildings of Paris, his focus was on the daily life of Paris at the turn of the century. His work became highly sought after and collectors from around the world vied to acquire his new works. Today he is considered one of the leading exponents of the School of Paris painters.
This essay is copyrighted by Rehs Galleries, Inc. and may not be reproduced or transmitted without written permission from Rehs Galleries, Inc.
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Arc de Triomphe, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Hiver 18 x 21.5 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Cafe de la Paix, Place de l'Opera 13 x 18 inches Signed, also signed titled and dated on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Le Moulin Rouge a Montmartre 13 1/4 x 18 1/4 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Le Moulin Rouge a Montmartre, Paris en 1900 18 x 21 1/2 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Marche aux fleurs, Place de la Madeleine 24 x 36 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Paris 1900, Place du Tertre, Montmartre 18 x 21.5 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Place de la Madeleine, Hiver 18 x 21 1/2 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Place de la Madeleine, Winter 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Quai des Gesvres, Theatre du Chatelet 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Booksellers Notre-Dame, Winter 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Place du Luxembourg, Le Pantheon 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse. SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Pont Saint Michel, Notre Dame 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Le Boulevard, Paris (Boulevard Haussmann) 24 x 36 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Omnibus at the Place de la Madeleine, Winter 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Théâtre du Gymnase, Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle 18 x 21 1/2 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Notre Dame, Paris 1900 18 x 21 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed, titled and stamped on reverse SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Les Grands Boulevards, et Theatre du Vaudeville 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Café de la Paix, Opéra (Reverse) 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Paris, La Cathedrale Notre Dame 18 x 21 1/2 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Grands Boulevard et Porte St. Denis sous la Neige 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Boulevard des Capucines et Cafe de la Paix en Hiver 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) La Madeleine, Boulevard des Capucines 18 x 21 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Boulevard de la Madeleine, Sous la Neige 18 x 21 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Place Saint Michel, Notre-Dame 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Place de la Republique 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Place du Théâtre de la Comédie Française 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Winter in Paris, Notre-Dame 23 3/4 x 36 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Place de l'Opéra, Cafe de la Paix 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Boulevard de la Madeleine, Sous la Neige 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Place de la Madeleine, Winter 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Les Grands Boulevards:
Porte St. Martin and Porte St. Denis 24 x 36 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Le Louvre, Passerelle des Arts 24 x 36 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Flower Market at the Madeleine 23 1/2 x 36 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Le Moulin Rouge, Place Blanche a Montmartre 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed, titled and stamped on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Quai du Louvre, Sous la Neige 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed, titled and stamped on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Les Grands Boulevards, sous la Neige 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed, titled and stamped on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Grands Boulevard, sous la neige 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Place de la Madeleine, Marche aux Fleurs 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Cafe de la Paix, Place de l'Opera 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Place du Tertre a Montmartre, Paris 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Rue Royale, Madeleine 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Boulevard de la Madeleine 20 x 24 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) L'Opera, Cafe de la Paix 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Rue Royale, La Madeleine sous la Neige 13 x 18 inches Signed SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Eglise de Saint Germain des pres 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
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Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Porte St. Denis, Les Grands Boulevards 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed, titled, and stamped on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Boulevard des Capucines, Place de la Madeleine 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed and titled on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |
Antoine Blanchard (1910 - 1988) Notre Dame, Les Bouquinistes 13 x 18 inches Signed; also signed, titled, and stamped on the reverse SOLD Request More Info |