Henri Pontoy (1888-1968) - Village de Pont-en-Royans, Isère

PONTOY Henri (1888-1968)

" Village de Pont-en-Royans, Isère "

Oil on cardboard,
Signed bottom right,

Beautiful work by French painter Henri Pontoy which depicts a view of the village of Pont-en-Royans. One can observe the old houses of the village perched above the Bourne gorges, animated by a figure on the bank and the Pont Picard.
The artist plays with contrasts and pays particular attention to details to highlight what he observes. A pupil of Luc-Olivier Merson at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris,

Henri Pontoy mingles with painters of the Barbizon School such as Corot and Millet, which influences his plein air painting practice and his approach to Orientalist landscapes. From the beginning of his career, Pontoy exhibited his engravings at the Salon des Artistes Français and his paintings at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, at the Salon d’Automne, as well as at the Salon des Artistes Orientalistes Algériens. Quickly, his work turns toward the representation of the Oriental world and North Africa, which would become his preferred subjects throughout his career. In 1926, he received a travel grant from the Société coloniale des artistes français, founded in 1908 by Louis Dumoulin to encourage artists to paint in the colonies and to organize artistic salons. Thanks to this grant, he traveled through different countries of North Africa, notably Tunisia, where he became a member of the Tunisian Salon, as well as Morocco and what was then French West Africa.

In 1930, Pontoy settled in Ouarzazate, Morocco, where he befriended the painter Jacques Majorelle. At that time, he became a professor of arts and letters at the Moulay Idriss High School in Fez. In 1933, he won the Grand Prize of the City of Algiers. World War II forced him to return to France, but he resumed his travels in 1947 with Jacques Majorelle, this time to Guinea, Ivory Coast, then Cameroon. Henri Pontoy died on 12 January 1968 in Six-Fours-les-Plages, in Provence, leaving behind a rich artistic oeuvre.

Dimensions: 41.5 x 33 cm without frame and 58 x 49.5 cm with the original wooden frame.

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