(French, 1861-1918)

Le Port du Guet (Douarnenez), circa 1896-1899, signed lower right "M. Maufra", inscribed with title on stretcher, oil on canvas, colormanstamp verso for "Blanchet..Paris", 21-1/4 x 25-5/8 in. (53.34 x 63-1/2 cm.); gilt wood and composition frame, 30 x 34 in.

Provenance: Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, France; Taylor | Graham Gallery, New York (label verso and with an appraisal and other documents from Abby M. Taylor); Private Bluffton, South Carolina Collection

Note: Note from Taylor | Graham Gallery (Abby M. Taylor Fine Art):"In November of 1893, Paul Gauguin visited Maufra and he encouraged Maufra to continue painting according to his own personal conception of Synthetism. Synthetism differed from the earlier Impressionism in how Synthetism emphasized two dimensional flat patterns. Gauguin noticed how Maufra's works were generally not as flat as his own and looked at Maufra as a pioneer, an independent artist going his own way. This meeting marked the start of a six year period for Maufra where he combined the technical aspects of Synthetism with Impressionist subjects". "During this period, Maufra started to capture more detail. His coastal paintings, like Le Port du Guet (Douarnenez) were now able to be identified by location. Details like the particular chimney on the fish house in this painting were captured. This painting was painted in Douarnenez, off the northern coast of Brittany where he spent his summers from 1896-1898. Maufra loved the sea and as Arsene Alexandre puts it in his Maxime Maufra, peintre marin et rustique, 'it was the sea with its perpetual soft and tumultuous currents, its celebrations and tragedies, that dominated his art. Even in many of his paintings in which the sea is not represented, one can still somehow feel it, like and eternal neighbor, constantly acting upon one's life.'. This painting beautifully displays both Maufra's individualism and love for the sea."Caroline Durand-Ruel Godfroy has confirmed the authenticity of this painting. This painting shall be reproduced under n° 290 in the online catalogue critique (https://cataloguemaufra.com). I have not done the latter in FW as I am unsure where to add it at this point.

original stretcher and tacking edge, surface dirt