This elegant oil on mounted canvas is by André Hambourg (France, 1909-1999) and features a seaside composition. The artwork is signed in the bottom left corner. The landscape is a lovely pastel color composition, by the beach, on the French Atlantic coast nearby Cabourg or Deauville.
Newly framed with a gray and green ceruse wood frame and a blue canvas matte.
Measurements:About:
André Hambourg was born in Paris on 5 May 1909. Entering the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs in 1926, he studied sculpture under Paul Niclausse for four years. The young artist then entered the studio of Lucien Simon at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts. While in the middle of his academic studies, Hambourg had his debut solo exhibition at the Galerie Taureau in Paris in 1928. He was only 19 years old. Because of the early recognition of his talent, Hambourg became active in major Paris salons in the first stages of his fledgling career. In 1931, he was made a member of the Salon de l’Art Français Indépendant and the Salon de l’Oeuvre Unique.
The first of Hambourg’s many honors was the Prix de la Villa Abd-el-Tif, awarded in 1933. As a result, the artist traveled to North Africa for the first time and spent nearly ten years working in Algeria and Morocco.
The strong light of the sun, and the bleak poverty of this region, inspired Hambourg’s works. In 1937, he executed a large mural for the Algerian Pavilion at the Exposition Internationale of Paris. Throughout his years in North Africa, Hambourg would exhibit his paintings in numerous solo exhibitions in Algeria and Paris.
In 1939, Hambourg was mobilized as a military reporter and draughtsman and worked on the staff of the Journal de Commissariat a la Guerre, the newspaper of the French army, under the pseudonym Andre Hache. Special missions on combat vessels led to his appointment as a war correspondent in 1944 with the staff of inter-allied SHAEF.
As such, he participated in the campaigns of Germany, Alsace, and the Atlantic front, and the Liberation of France.
After returning to his artistic career for a short time, Hambourg became the official painter of the Navy in 1952. He undertook numerous voyages aboard French Navy vessels on missions worldwide, including Venice, the Soviet Union, Israel, Great Britain, The Ivory Coast, The United States, and Mexico. From these extended trips, the artist brought back numerous sketches and preparatory drawings for future paintings and illustrations.
His international trips would have a lasting influence on his artwork. Hambourg’s adventurous maritime career resulted in his receiving the honor of Laureate of the Salon de la Marine and becoming the official painter of the Marine Ministry.
In 1970, five hundred of his works created a prestigious retrospective at the Maison de Culture in Bourges, France. Other notable shows include Drawings of Venice at Galerie Varine-Gincourt in Paris (1979), Bonjour New York at Wally Findlay Galleries in New York (1985), The Presence of André Hambourg at the Salon du Dessin (1986), André Hambourg in the Ivory Coast at Galerie Guigne in Paris (1987), and finally André Hambourg in Venice at Galerie Apesteguyin Deauville (1989).
Having experience creating mural decorations for ships, Hambourg
was commissioned for completing a 195-square-foot mural panel for the Audience Chamber of the new European Court of Justice in Luxembourg in 1972.
On 4 December 1999, André Hambourg died in Paris after a long and prosperous career. Today his works can be found in the collections of museums such as the Musée National d’Art Moderne, the Musée National de la Marine, and the Musée des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie in Paris.
(Credit: Wikipedia)
By the Beach, Oil on Canvas Painting by André Hambourg
circa 1950