Attributed to Charles François Grenier de Lacroix, called Lacroix de Marseille

Attributed to Charles François Grenier de Lacroix, called Lacroix de Marseille

Marseille circa 1700 - 1782 Berlin

Mediterranean harbor at dawn; Mediterranean harbor at dusk

a pair, oil on canvas

each canvas: 14 ¼ by 18 ½ in.; 36.2 by 47 cm.

each framed: 19 ⅞ by 24 in.; 50.5 by 61 cm.
Provenance

Possibly Mrs. James Dunning;

Possibly by whom sold ("Property of Mrs. James Dunning"), London, Christie's, 3 July 1931, lot 8 (as Joseph Vernet);

G.N. Northrop, West Roxbury, Massachusetts;

Donald R. Booz, Chicago, by 1961;

Thereafter acquired.Exhibited

Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Treasures of Chicago Collectors, 15 April - 17 May 1961 (as Vernet, lent by Mrs. Donald R. Booz).Catalogue note

Charles Grenier de Lacroix, called Lacroix de Marseille, specialized in idealized Mediterranean coastal views, following the example of his teacher Claude-Joseph Vernet. In the present pair of harbor scenes, depicted at dawn and dusk, the artist explores the atmospheric effects of light on water. In each painting, a vaporous haze rises from the sea and settles on the horizon as clouds partly eclipse the rising and setting sun. The combined interest in natural effects and poetic lyricism, typical of Lacroix de Marseille's repertoire, paved the way for a new approach to French landscape painting.

The dawn scene, with a fortified structure and tree at far right, is nearly identical to another version by Lacroix de Marseille in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Toulon (inv. no. 970.12.1).