Charles Emmanuel Joseph Roussel

Essay:

From 1882, Charles Emmanuel Joseph Roussel studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Alexandre Cabanel and Jean-Joseph Weerts. After graduating he left Paris in search of inspiration. His artistic connections up to this point had been as a neighbour to Manet in Paris but now he met Eugène Boudin, Gaugin and Francis Tattegrain. Boudin was to prove a particular influence on the young artist.

Having settled in Berck near Honfluer, Roussel produced perhaps the most extensive record of Normandy coastal life in existence. Baroness Betty de Rothschild (the wife of James de Rotschild) also lived in Berck and became a strong patron of Roussel. He also showed regularly at the Salon over a period of forty-eight years.

After his death his widow became a recluse and refused to let his work be seen until her death in 1974 when his son allowed his works to emerge from their enforced seclusion.

Provenance:

Private Collection, France