Edmond Marie PETITJEAN

Born July 5, 1844, in Vosges and died August 7, 1925, in Paris.

Petitjean first exhibited in 1874 at the Salon. He was a member of the Society of French Artists from 1883, winning an honourable mention in 1881, first class medal in 1884, and second class in 1885. He was the recipient of a silver medal in the 1889 Exposition Universelle, Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1892, gold medal in the 1900 Exposition Universelle and finally awarded the highest honour, that of “Hors Concours,” that is, no longer being required to compete for a place in the exhibition. He also exhibited his works in Munich in 1890.

Although inspired by Courbet, Petitjean was strongly influenced by the free style and light colours used by most Impressionist Artists of his time. During his travels, he often executed seascapes and marine paintings of Brittany and Normandy but he is mostly renowned for his landscapes of Lorraine, les Vosges and the Massif Central. Petitjean was made Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 1903.

In the later part of his career, he painted multiple ports of the Atlantic and his last years were spent at Deauville in the North Atlantic, where he painted his most famous port scenes.

Museums with his work in include Amiens, Arras, Chambery, Digne, Eppinal, Gray, Nancy, Paris, Reims, La Rochelle, and Toul.