Oil on Panel by Paul de Lassence

Paul de Lassence, born Paul Haerynck in Ixelles in 1886 and died in Paris in 1962, was a Belgian painter and engraver trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, and then in London in the studio of Frank Brangwyn. He settled in Paris in 1912 — where he would live until his death in the Villa des Arts studio — and began exhibiting in 1911 at the Salon d'Automne, followed by the Salon des Indépendants and the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. A recognised painter, he exhibited at Georges Petit in 1925 and 1930, one of the most influential art dealers in Paris. His passion for Corsica and Brittany never waned. This small panel titled "The Beeches (Finistère)" is an example of this. It depicts two beech trees with light, sinuous trunks, bent by the wind from the sea, against a backdrop of a bright and stormy sky in the distance. The composition, focused on the architectural power of the trees and the brilliance of the light, is characteristic of his work. 40x35 cm with frame, 27x22 cm without frame.