Charles Contencin, the light of the mountains
With the advent of landscape painting, considered from the early years of the 19th century as a genre in its own right, many artists devoted themselves to the representation of the "cathedrals of the earth" to use John Ruskin's term.
He dedicated a large part of his work to the mountains, trying to understand the architecture of the mountains.
If you do not know John Ruskin, I invite you to read the biography of him by André Hélard.
The Alps were at that time "the playground of Europe" since the ascent of Mont Blanc by Horace Bénédict de Saussure in 1787.
The man who is considered the founder of mountaineering had many emulators. Princes and bourgeois from France, Italy and England gathered in Chamonix in the hope of conquering the summits.
The painters were not to be outdone and, from the bottom of the valley or clinging to the ice, translated the beauty of the mountains. In 1898, they founded the society of mountain painters, which still exists today. Photography, developed at the same period, was also used and allowed dynasties of artists like the Tairraz to become famous between 1857 and 2000. I refer you to the book on this dynasty "Joseph, Georges I, Georges II and Pierre Tairraz, the Alps from father to son".
But let's go back to Contencin in particular.
Charles-Henri Contencin is a painter born in 1898 in Paris.
Raised by his grandmother in the Bernese Oberland until the age of 10-12 years, he will be all his life a passionate of mountain.
As a young climber, he belonged to the French Alpine Club, through which he met the members of the Society of Mountain Painters, which he joined in 1929.
He trained at the ABC school of drawing, located in Paris. At the age of seventeen, he was sent to the front. At the end of the First World War, he worked for an arms factory and then joined an architectural firm where he produced industrial drawings. After that, he made posters for the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord under the pseudonym "Charles-Henri". Later, he was director of engineering works at the SNCF.
Of course, he is best known for his painting of mountains and has left an important body of work in this area.
In his spare time, Contencin drew and painted landscapes. He mainly represents Savoyard mountain ranges. For Contencin, the mountain is an art as well as a sport.
He sometimes painted the Mont Blanc or the Swiss Alps. He painted chalets framed by snow-covered mountains, in winter as in this painting "Snow. In Wengen" or in summer.
Contencin paints his works with a play of light: the reflection of the sun creates a contrast between the soft colors of the lake or the snow and the brutality of the dark rocks, which contributes to the realistic aspect of his paintings. Such is the case for this painting "Evening on the Meije, Lake Lérié".
He exhibited regularly at the Salon des artistes français and the Salon des indépendants
In 1955, Charles-Henri Contencin passed away and left behind him sublime works that many collectors were looking for.
He is a painter that I appreciate a lot, because he tries to capture a moment of light, an emotion that he tries to share.
I am very sensitive to this, because, even if the mountain is not my environment, I feel exactly the same in an environment that fascinates and intrigues me, the sea.
Mystery of the natural elements, before which man can only remain humble, and withdraw in its most intrinsic simplicity and try to be one with "Mother Nature".
But let's come back to more down-to-earth considerations, what is the price of Charles Contencin's paintings at auction?
This artist, as I said, has something special among all artists dealing with various mountain landscapes, mountain lakes and mountain skies.
His paintings have an unparalleled vibrancy that attracts collectors like a magnet.
On top of that, the market can only be satisfied because Charles Contencin produced a lot of paintings. He lived in the mountains and enjoyed putting his impressions on canvas, especially the different lights and moods that the mountains can bring.
His palette is characteristic and he particularly appreciates the effects of sunrise or sunset on snow or glaciers.
It should be noted that unlike some mountain painters, Charles Contencin is very much appreciated by foreign collectors, and this can only encourage his price to remain in these more than comfortable spheres.
If the average painting is sold at auction for between 4,000 and 6,000 euros, some of them are sold for less than that.
Elodie Couturier, expertisez.com
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