Joseph Raphael Village of Brittany Oil on Canvas

Joseph Raphael (America, 1869-1950), Village of Brittany, oil on canvas, signed, 18" x 15", 26" x 22 3/4" framed. Provenance: Goldfield Gallery, Los Angeles. Joseph Raphael considered a foremost exponent of pure French Impressionism, he spent much of his career in Europe although California lays a strong claim to him . At age eighteen, Raphael began a ten-year study period at the School of Design in San Francisco under Arthur Mathews and Douglas Tilden. In 1902 he furthered his art studies in Paris at Ecole des Beaux-Arts and Academie Julian under Laurens. Europe remained his home for the next thirty-seven years, spending most of his time in Holland, France, and Belgium while his San Francisco agent exhibited his paintings regularly in local shows. Proximity to the French impressionists lightened his palette. For most of his carrier he remained and devoted follower of pure French impressionist. His paintings of outdoors scenes are very colorful and in some ways similar to techniques used by an earlier Europeans generation, especially like post impressionist artists like Vincent Van Gogh. This painting of “village of Brittany” is a good example of his French impressionistic period.