Pierre Bertrand (1884-1975) - Portrait Enfant en Algérie - orientaliste (Vendu sans prix de réserve)

We present to you a very beautiful watercolor and ink on paper depicting a girl dressed in a traditional Algerian costume by Pierre Bertrand (1884-1975).

The young girl is seated cross-legged, wearing a draped headdress and traditional clothing. The work notes "child from southern Algeria" at the bottom left and is signed "Pierre Bertrand" at the bottom right.

Title: Child of the South of Algeria

Technique: Watercolor on paper

Artist: Pierre Bertrand (1884-1975)

Work format: 26 × 22.5 cm

Overall frame format: 49.5 × 44 cm

Condition: Good with light foxing and small age-related stains.

Frame: good condition with signs of wear

Born in Lorient, the French painter, draftsman and lithographer Pierre-Philippe Bertrand, known as Pierre-Bertrand (1884-1975), chose the artistic path as a self-taught artist under the guidance of his friend Jean-Bertrand Pégot-Ogier. Abandoning the military career to which his family had destined him, he first exhibited in his hometown in 1903 before settling in Paris where he began to frequent the major Paris salons from 1907. Mobilized during the First World War, his bravery earned him the Croix de guerre before being taken prisoner at the end of 1915, a harsh experience from which he produced several drawings of captivity. He then settled in 1926 on the Île d’Yeu, a place that deeply inspired his marine landscapes and scenes of island life, before being expelled by the German occupation in 1939. Named Official Painter of the Navy in 1935, his style close to impressionism and influenced by the Pont-Aven school is distinguished by a constant search for light, the variations of the sea, and the reflections of fishing boats. Distinguished from the Legion of Honour, this Breton artist spent the latter decades of his life painting the Atlantic coasts and died in Paris at the age of 91, leaving behind a major marine artwork today preserved in several national public collections.