Original pastel. Signed in blue pastel lower left and in pencil in center back.

Dimensions: Image size: 6" x 9 3/8"; Framed: 16 3/4" x 19 1/8"

No one can remain unmoved by the plein-air pastel works of Auguste Pégurier with their spontaneous, rapid hatching strokes, subtle colors, and their ability to capture the vibrations of intense light and shadow. Although his pastels exude an elegant and subtle sensibility, they also capture the vibrations of the light beautifully.

As a son of a ship captain, and born in the maritime village of Saint-Tropez in the South of France, Pégurier is the first painter, before the arrival of Signac, to turn to the village and its quaint and unknown surroundings for inspiration. Pégurier studied in Toulon, Marseille and then at the Académie Julian in Paris where he studied under Carolus Duran and Cormon. It was at that time that he became friends with John Singer Sargent and discovered the works of the impressionists.

Even though Pégurier traveled to Holland, the Basque country, Venice and Switzerland, he always seemed to direct the subject of his landscapes back to the Provence region. Starting in 1884 he participated in the Salons des Artistes Français. On the advice of Signac, starting in 1886 he also exposed at the Salons des Indépendants and the Salons d’Automne in Paris. A retrospective of his work was held in the Musée de L’Annonciade in Saint-Tropez in 1981. Several of his pastel works are in the collection of the Musée de L’Annonciade. His work is also at the Musée Chéret in Nice and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

(Dictionaire des Petits Maîtres de la Peinture; Dictionnaire des Peintres à Montmartre; Dictionnaire des Peintres et Scuplteurs de Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur)