Leo Fontan: Boats And Fishermen The Cote D'Azur Coast LargeSeascape

All the light and the colours of the mediterranean in one gorgeous, life afffirming picture! Looking at this wonderfulyl sun drenched oil on board by Leo Fontan, dating from circa 1935-40, feels like taking a holiday. One finds oneself leisurely counting the sailboats on the horizon, and gets lost in the hypnotic ripples on the water.

Lo Fontan (1884-1965) grew up in Touraine in the Centre of France, and studied at the cole suprieure des beaux-arts de Tours from 1900 to 1903, in the studios of Flix Laurent and Courault, He was subsequently admitted to the cole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he worked with the masters Fernand Cormon, Lon Bonnat and Luc-Olivier Merson. He was selected among the last ten candidates for the Grand Prix de Rome (a prize for the most promising young artist) in 1909.

Fontan's military booklet describes him during national service in 1904 as follows "Blonde with blue eyes, round chin, oval face, height 1.67 meters", and suffering from chronic bronchitis which he inherited from his mother.

Not only a painter, Lo Fontan also illustrated books. One might even call him a co-creator of the detective Arsne Lupin, given that he designed the covers for the first publication of the Lupin books, commissioned by Pierre Lafitte.

Fontan did drawings for newspapers and magasines such as La Vie parisienne and Le Sourire, too, and posters and sets for the Folies Bergre cabaret . He even created furniture, executed gilding , and took part in the Decorative Arts Exhibition of 1925

During the Second World War , he devoted himself to portraits, still lives and landscapes, dividing his time between Paris, Touraine and the Cte d'Azur .

Fontan was a member of the Society of French Artists from 1911 to 1946 and divided his time between Paris, Touraine and the Cte d'Azur, where the painting presented here was painted. Signed at the lower left, it is a large oil on canvas that was subsequently laid don on board. Measuring 55 x 70 cm, the overall size including a patinated wooden frame is 73 x 88 cm