Albert Victor Eugene Brenet

Originally from the region of Le Havre , he already draws the boats of the port. He studied at the School of Fine Arts of Paris in 1921 2 where he was a pupil of the Impressionist painter Ernest Laurent . He embarked in 1929 aboard the Bonchamp , one of the last great French sailing ships for a trip of seven months in the West Indies. He married Hyèote Pirotte in 1933 and he installed his studio at 41 rue Lecourbe in Paris 3 . In 1925, he made a trip to Equatorial Africa with a scholarship awarded by the Salon des artistes français. In 1933, he embarked on a coal ship of the railway company PLM for a voyage in the Black Sea . From 1935, he began working for the magazine L'Illustration . In 1935 , he embarked for the first time as a painter aboard a ship of the French Navy, the battleship Provence to immortalize the memory of the naval review that the president of the Republic, Albert Le Brun, will pass in roadstead of Douarnenez 4 . In the same year, he made a trip to Normandy from Saint-Nazaire to Le Havre . In 1938 , he decorated the square of the officers of the aeronautical base of Saint-Mandrier and embarked on the cruiser Emile Bertin to realize a series of sketches. In 1939 , it decorates the square of the officers of the aeronautical base of Berre 3 . In 1942 , he participated in the exhibition of the Painters of the Navy in Vichy 4 . In 1944 , he followed as a painter the armored regiment of marine fusiliers on the front of the Vosges 3 . At the Salon de la Marine , in 1945 , he exhibited several works concerning Toulon . In 1946 , he embarked for the West Indies on the cruiser Montcalm in charge of bringing back to France the gold of the Bank of France which had been hidden there during the war of 39-49. In 1947 , he participated in the exhibition of the artists of the aeronautics. In 1954 , he produced the poster of the Salon de la Marine and exhibited the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth . In 1955 , he exhibited gouaches representing French and foreign uniforms during the exhibition of historical figurines at the Museum of the Navy and he exhibited again at the Salon de la Marine. In 1957 , he illustrated the book of Roger Vercel , Fishermen of the Four Seas , with the painters Marin-Marie and Mathurin Meheut 4 . On May 11, 1960 , he assisted with Marin-Marie at the launch of France at Saint-Nazaire and immortalized the scene. In 1963 , he embarked on the aircraft carriers Foch and Clemenceau. From 1963 to 1969 , at the request of towing company Moran Towing Corporation, he produced a series of paintings on the port of New York. In 1965 , he again exhibited gouaches representing uniforms during a new exhibition of figurines at the Musée de la Marine 4 . In 1971 , he embarked on the Suffren for the naval review of Toulon with the President of the Republic Georges Pompidou . An exhibition was devoted to him in 1991 at the Musée de la Marine. Albert Brenet was appointed painter of the Navy in 1936 5 . A member of the Salon des artistes français, he exhibited at the Salon de la Marine in 1945 and in Oran, at the fifth exhibition of painters of the sea 2 . Two Albert Brenet exhibitions , marines and travels from 17 May 1974 to 13 July 1974 and Albert Brenet, a reporter from 4 April 1991 to 5 June 1991 at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris, are devoted to him. In 2003, the Salon de la Marine pays tribute to him. He travels the seas of the world on different ships realizing sketches, oil paintings, gouaches of ships, ports but also scenes of the life of the crews. He always paints on the spot. He is as interested in landscapes as in street scenes or in individuals. He follows the news and is interested in the technological evolutions of his time. He took advantage of his embarkations on naval ships to paint the countries where he makes a stopover. At the beginning of his career Albert Brenet sculpted much more than he painted. His subjects of inspiration are the animals he meets in the countryside, at the Jardin des Plantes, at races or at horse shows, or in circuses. In 1922 he made the eagle of the monument of the Armistice crossroads at Rhétondes for the ironworker Edgar Brandt 4 . In 1925 , he obtained a travel grant for Equatorial Africa where he painted wild animals. He presents his works in Paris in the Galerie Charpentier during an exhibition devoted to animal painters 3 . In 1929, he embarked on the three-master the Bonchamp , one of the last great French yachts of commerce as passenger. During the voyage, he took part in the maneuvers and made many drawings, paintings and sketches. In Martinique , he found new subjects of inspiration, notably the fish market and he carried out numerous studies of mottled fish. This trip marks an important turning point in his career since the sea is supplanting animals as a source of inspiration 4 . On his return to France, he abandoned the oil painting for the gouache on the advice of his friend, the painter Mathurin Méheut 3 . In 1934 , his talent was noticed by the leaders of the magazine L'Illustration, of which he became a regular contributor. This is how he participates in many ceremonies, parades and covers many events as an illustrator. He meets the great ones of this world. In 1937 , for the sake of illustration , he produced sketches of the coronation of Georges IV and the naval magazine of the British fleet at Portsmouth . Queen Mary bought her the originals of the works reproduced in the Illustration which are hung at the palace of St. James in London 4 . In 1944 , Brenet made his first poster for the central competition horse breeding . His talents as a poster artist are exploited by the Chartered shipping company combined and by the Transatlantic Company . He subsequently worked for various shipping and airlines, the SNCF , the Marie de Paris and the French Navy. He created the posters for the launch and the inaugural voyage of the Normandy liners in 1935 and of France in 1961 . The American magazine Life and the Illustrated London news also appeal to him. At the opening of the Marine Museum at the Palais de Chaillot in 1943 , he exhibited three paintings on Toulon . In 1944 , he created for this museum the poster of the exhibition La Marine au combat 4 . In 1952 , he spent six months in Japan , a country he had dreamed of visiting since his childhood. This stay is an important step in his artistic career. Japan increases its taste for the beautiful harmonies of colors and it reaches the top of its art in the use of the reds and the yellows. He is also very inspired by the Japanese ideograms 4 . In 1958 , he made a great trip to the United States that he traveled by car from New York to Los Angeles . Albert Brenet (1903-2005) was a French artist who painted primarily in gouache. As a child he loved to paint pictures of ships in port. Ships remained a favorite theme all his life. In 1921 he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. For seven months he sailed the Antilles on the Bonchamp, one of the last French sailing merchant ships. He traveled widely and painted scenes of colorful locations around the world, including equatorial Africa and the West Indies. His gouache paintings were relatively large, requiring a big board and easel. He worked for many years for the magazine L’illustration, and he painted many posters depicting railroads, aircraft, ships, and architecture for the travel trade. These subjects require accurate perspective and confident handling of detail. In the painting above, note how he simplifies the far silhouette and the foreground textures to put the focus on the middle-ground train and the overhead wires. He delighted in tight cropping, active foregrounds, and immense scale. He achieved scale by alternating big and little strokes, choosing unusual viewpoints, and setting figures back in space.
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