Beach Scene with Figures
Robert Le Prince was a painter of historic subjects, portraits and scenes from everyday life. He was also a landscape painter and made his reputation in this field, showing his works at the prestigious Paris Salon between 1822 and 1844. He received a medal in 1824. This modest and freshly painted landscape has more importance than it effortless naturalism would suggest. French painting, especially landscape, was to acquire a new liberation after the Salon of 1824. Here Constable's (1776-1827) approach to nature opened the eyes of many Frenchmen and this picture's appearance at the same Salon shows how far French artists had developed in the pursuit of naturalism. The incidental figures in this picture, enjoying the sea air, are rustic and not townspeople.
