View of the village of Asni in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco

ARTIST: Georges Pierre GUINEGAULT
TECHNIQUE: Mixed media: watercolor, gouache, pastel.
PERIOD: 20th century
DIMENSIONS unframed: 63 x 45 cm at sight.
DIMENSIONS with frame : 64,5 x 42,5 cm
Original work, signed, sold framed.
View of the village of Asni in Morocco:
In this bright, lively scene, Georges Pierre Guinegault captures the tranquility of a Berber village nestled in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. The white-draped figures blend into the warm ochre of the adobe houses, bathed in a soft, powdery light. The artist subtly captures the serene atmosphere and authenticity of everyday Moroccan life.
Georges Pierre Guinegault (1888-1969) was a French painter whose work is at the crossroads of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Orientalism. Born in Paris in 1888, he received a solid academic training at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied drawing and painting in the classical tradition, while opening up to the modern currents of the early 20th century. He was influenced by masters such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Eugène Fromentin, but also by the innovations of Impressionism and Fauvism, from which he retained the importance of light and color.
From an early age, Guinegault was attracted by exotic landscapes and distant cultures, and took several trips to North Africa, notably Algeria and Morocco, regions then popular with Orientalist painters. These sojourns had a profound impact on his career, and gave rise to much of his work. He painted street scenes, souks, portraits of notables or anonymous people, views of Berber villages or oases, always imbued with respect, human truth and a keen sense of light.
Guinegault is not a painter of oriental fantasies, but rather an attentive and sensitive observer of reality. He accurately captures everyday gestures, silhouettes draped in luminous whites, the play of shadows cast on mud walls, the ochre hues of desert or mountain landscapes. His fluid yet precise style uses watercolor, gouache or oil to capture the vibrant atmosphere of the places he visits. The spontaneity of his strokes is sometimes reminiscent of travel diaries, while at the same time testifying to his great pictorial skill.
A regular visitor to North Africa from the 1920s to the 1940s, Guinegault took part in the major Parisian salons, notably the Salon des Artistes Français, where he exhibited for several decades. There, he won several awards and acquired a discreet but solid reputation. Yet his work remains relatively unknown to the general public, even though it is prized by lovers of authentic, sensitive Orientalist painting.
Georges Pierre Guinegault died in 1969. Today, his paintings bear witness to a respectful view of a changing world, between tradition and modernity, and retain both documentary and artistic value. His work deserves to be rediscovered for the finesse of its observation, its humanism and the warmth of its palette.

*This work is sold as is, and as a second-hand item, the buyer accepts that it may show signs of use, wear, fragility, age or restoration due to the passage of time.

Ref: X1M76EWH69