Collection particulière, France

Although born in Nancy, Jules Noël had a strong attachment to Brittany for many reasons. After spending the first thirty years of his life there, from 1814 to 1845, he was a frequent visitor to his family-in-law's home in Lorient. Denise Delouche (1) estimates that 57% of his 800 paintings were inspired by Brittany. Interested in all the landscapes of this rich and varied region, he also endeavoured to depict town views, sometimes faithfully, sometimes composed of imagined elements. The two paintings we present here seem to belong to the second category. The bell tower in La Sortie de la Messe, Le Dimanche des Rameaux can be compared to the one depicted in Le Rémouleur à Morlaix, at the Musée des Jacobins in Morlaix. (2). Enriched by numerous picturesque details, these two canvases offer a traditional vision of 19th-century Brittany, whose folkloric charm continues to captivate visitors.

1 – As cited by André Cariou in Michel Rodrigue, Jules Noël, exh. cat. Quimper, Dieppe, 2005-2006, p. 33.  

2 – Idem, p. 66, cat. n° 64, repr.