Hubert-Denis Etcheverry
Young Italians at the fountain
Oil on canvas signed and dated "D.Etcheverry 1911" lower right
Hubert-Denis Etcheverry exhibited his group of Young Italians at the fountain at the 1911 Salon des Artistes Français. Persons of all ages gathered around a source of living water, sharing the same joy. The painting of gushing water, the central motif in the painting, is a tour de force. The youngest dabbling child, hold by his mother, is the center of interest. In the background two silhouettes of elderly women on the left contemplate the scene. On the right, we distinguish the curves of a sea animal. With their traditional costumes and subtle colors, the Italian women recall those of Ernest Hébert’s paintings, in a less nostalgic rendering.Read more
Hubert-Denis Etcheverry delves into the description of the Italian people through a playful genre scene. Young Italians at the fountain holds a unique place in the career of the painter who had hitherto made himself known through portrait, religious and history paintings The painting was a resounding success at the 1911 Salon des Artistes Français. It was brought to the attention of art connoisseurs in newspapers by Guillaume Apollinaire who wrote for L’Intransigeant, but also in French newspapers such as Gil Blas, L’Eclat de rire, Le Penseur. Hubert-Denis Etcheverry won the Eugène Piot Prize and 2,000 francs for his display.
The following year, he presented it at the XXth Fine Arts Exhibition in Monaco. It was unanimously applauded this time, drawing the attention major French daily newspapers. The art critic of Le
Figaro emphasizes on "a composition full of life, beautifully crafted, of a vigorous paste, of a fair color". For Le Gaulois, the painting "of a very detailed drawing and 1 a beautiful impasto" was considered "remarkable by the detail of the costumes, the sketch of the movements and the very thorough study of expressions and types".2 Finally, the most impressive art review was published in Le Matin: It is, truly, a masterpiece, where the firmness of the impasto combines with an ideal lightness of certain details that reach the masterpiece. The impasto is, in its vigor, extremely delicate. One must mention, in this beautiful painting, a very sincere effect of gushing water, wisely melted with the brush and of the most artistic effect. This painting is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable of the Monte-Carlo Fine Arts Exhibition
Château de Pontchartrain, Jouars-Pontchartrain
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93400 Saint-Ouen sur Seine