Du bateau, de la plage - selected work by Raoul du Gardier

 

Baignade depuis le bateau.

Au mouillage dans le calme blanc, circa 1938.

Sur la plage, 1905.

Élégante sur la plage, circa 1903-04.

Sur le pont en vue du Stromboli.

L'heure du lavage du pont.

Calme blanc, 1909.

 Le Débarcadère.

 "Arrival of the Normandie in New York's Harbour." Two versions. I suspect that this is the original artwork, with the following being the print.

I confess that I'm confused by this image. In order to celebrate the Normandie's arrival, it would only make sense for it to be pictured as the ship seen here, mid-
distance, in full view. But obvious in the foreground, placed near the figures lounging on deck, is a life preserver emblazoned with the paquebot's name. Actually,
then, we're witnessing the arrival of - a - boat from the deck of the Normandie. In any case, the seeming focus of the design couldn't be the legendary liner, as the
Normandie had not one funnel, but three. (The third one was actually a dummy - for "aesthetic balance." It contained the ship's air conditioning and dog kennels.)
Update: Thanks to a frequent visitor to the blog, the ship central to the image has been identified as the French Line's SS Champlain, launched in 1932.

À la plage, Noirmoutiers.

Scène de plage.

Sur un voilier, circa 1905.

Élégantes sur la plage, circa 1905. The main figure here is obviously identical to the one in the previous painting; I wonder which came first...?

Régate à Pornic - virage de bord.

Felouk sur le Nil. 

Sur la plage.

Le cuirassé au port.

Au moment de la baignade - Hélène (the artist's niece), Villa Magdalena, Pornic, 1929. 

La Baignade, Méditerranée.

À marée basse (Élégante sur la plage avec un chien), circa 1904-5.

 Jeune femme à la plage, 1933.

Appareillage.

La Croisière. 

 Le Pont du navire, before 1931.

Enfant sur la plage.

Pesée de l'ancre.

Terrasse à Alger, circa 1920.

À l'heure du soleil couchant, l'océan indien, circa 1929.

*

Raoul Alfred Henri Robert du Gardier (1 April 1871, Wiesbaden - 17 October 1952, Pornic), French painter and engraver best known for his maritime scenes. Born into a wealthy family, in 1890 he began study at the Écoles des Beaux Arts in Paris under Gustave Moreau, Théobald Chartran, Élie Delaunay, and Albert Maignan. In 1897 he was awarded an honorable mention at the Paris Salon as well as a bronze medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1900. During WWI he was a driver for General Foch. As he suffered from tuberculosis from childhood, his doctors prescribed sea air and spending time in hot climates. So even before being appointed painter to the Navy in 1923, he traveled widely, predominantly in the Middle East and North Africa. When not traveling, he lived in Paris but would spent the summers at his brother's home in Pornic, the Villa Magdalena, on the Atlantic coast of France. His health began to decline during WWII and he left Paris, permanently, for Pornic. His brother, to whom he was very close, died in 1950. And he, himself, died in a hospice there at the age of eighty-one.

And to prove that he didn't only paint boats and beaches...

... his lovely "Au jardin."

(I apologize for not being able to provide the dates on so many of these pieces; I did try!)