Alpine landscape with waterfall and peasants in the front of house was executed in the late 19th century by good listed French painter Alfred Godchaux (1835 - 1895). He was painter of landscapes, marines, flowers.

An accomplished French artist, Alfred Godchaux was born in Paris in 1835 and received his formal art training at the l´Ecole des Beaux Arts. On completion of his studies he traveled extensively through Europe spending months studying at the museums in Spain and Italy. On his return to Paris in 1860 he commenced showing his work at the Paris Salon for which he was to receive much praise.Of his exhibited paintings many were very beautiful Venetian scenes. He left Paris in 1875 and settled in Pau, opening an atelier on Rue Henri IV. The surrounding coastline being so beautiful, Alfred Godchaux found an abundance of subject matter for which there was an appreciative clientele. Instead of exhibiting at the Paris Salon he now exhibited at the Beaux Arts de Pau and records at the museum des Beaux Arts in Pau show that he exhibited paintings entitled Paysage Pyreneen and La Promenade de Montauban a Luchon.

In method, outlook and sympathy Godchaux was influenced by the Impressionists, and although very much a plein-aire painter one can see how capable he was at conveying a painting full of vivacity by the varied touches of different colours on the land, sea and the clear blue of the sky.Of all the schools of painting, Venice is perhaps the most sumptuous. There was something in the power, prosperity and "isolation" of the Venetian Republic that made for especial colour. The beauty of the City of Canals, its imperial connection with the East, all contributed to produce an art gracious and grandiose. Godchaux´s Venetian views not only portray the mysterious charm and fascinating beauty of the city but are painted in a style which is both free and accurate. With gifts of aesthetic expression, Godchaux recreated the splendor of Venice.

Literature/Source: "Alfred Godchaux", Select Fine Art, //www.selectfineart.org/impressionist.html"General Artist´s Lexicon " by Thieme/Becker and Benezit. "Dictionary of painters, sculptors, decorators and etchers"(in French), Paris, 1999.

Inscription: signed lower left.

Technique: oil on canvas. Luxuriously original period gold-plated frame.

Measurements: unframed w 28 3/4" x h 20 1/4" (73 x 51,5 cm), framed w 32 1/2" x h 24 3/4" (82,5 x 63 cm).

Condition: in very good condition.