Lot 161: Famille à la Plage

Paul-Michel Dupuy (French, 1869-1949) Famille à la Plage signed 'P.M. Dupuy.' (lower left) oil on canvas 24 x 21 1/4 in. (61 x 54 cm.)

61 x 54 cm.

Private Collection. By descent from the above to the present owner.

The French artist Paul Michel Dupuy painted many scenes of figures strolling through the gardens of Paris, whether the Jardin du Luxembourg or the Jardin des Tuileries. It was, however, the post-Impressionist’s beach scenes that are most celebrated.  Painting in Biarritz, Nice, Deauville and everywhere in between, the artist presents idyllic summer settings populated by mothers and their children. Playing happily in the sand and rendered in striking whites contrasting with the deep blues of the water and sky above, the artist presents this work in a harmonious and aesthetically pleasing package. Historically, we find Dupuy’s seaside scenes occupying a place in the French canon following Eugene Boudin and Claude Monet and mirroring the work of his contemporaries in the States including Edward Potthast and Martha Walter.