Pink Laurels in the Park - Côtes Dazur, 1930s

Pink Laurels in the Park, Côtes d'Azur', watercolour on art paper, by Tony Minartz (circa 1930s). The French Riviera is known for its beautiful parks, particularly in Nice, Menton, Eze, Antibes and St. Raphael. Although a thorough online search was made, this gallery was unable to pinpoint the fountain and associate it with a particular park in the Côtes d'Azur. After the artist's Parisian phase, he moved to the South of France to capture the light, nature and sea for which this area is renowned. Like the other watercolour held by this gallery by the same artist, t he viewer is invited in to sit, relax and take in the fresh air of this colourful park. The artist's keen eye for detail combined with his use of masterful brushstrokes created this atmospheric artwork that transports the viewer to a better place. That is always a good thing. The painting has been professionally cleaned and preserved, then framed and glazed leaving it in good overall condition. It is stamped in the lower right hand corner. Provenance is a sale of the artist's atelier (Daguerre, May 2010). Upon request a video of the piece may be provided. About the Artist : Antoine Guillaume (Tony) Minartz (1870-1944) was a self-taught painter. He created a significant body of work, particularly of skilfully rendered sketches and watercolours, which may be divided into two main series: Parisian life and society, and landscapes of the Côte-d’Azur. On the Côte-d’Azur, his sketches trace an itinerary between St-Tropez and Cannes, by way of Nice and Monaco, and extending even to Venice. He depicted ports crowded with yachts and other boats, the beaches and their pleasant bustle. The Parisian subjects mostly date from pre-WWI, while the post-WWI subjects tend to be of fashionable life on the Côte d’Azur. He was most known for his interpretations of Parisian life, of the Belle Époque through to the excesses of the 1930s. He illustrated the vicissitudes of society life, and was a faithful chronicler of its parties, the casino, cabaret, circus shows and their backstage goings-on, the music-hall, the Opéra and its ballets. He showed in collective exhibitions from 1896 to 1914, most notably at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts , of which he became an associate member in 1901. Dimensions with Frame : H 60 cm / 23.6'' W 49.5 cm / 19.5'' Dimensions without Frame : H 49.5 cm / 19.5'' W 39 cm / 15.4''