Alexandre Ségé

ALEXANDRE SÉGÉ (Paris,1819 - Coubron, 1885).
"Breton landscape".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower margin.
Measurements: 92x 135 cm; 117 x 162 cm (frame).

We are in front of a country landscape dominated by houses of stone of rustic invoice and roofs of grayish slate. An old woman, withdrawn in herself, remains seated on the grass, absorbed in her work of weaving. The figure conveys a quiet calm, in contrast to the latent tension that animates the foreground. There, a group of upright geese, with white plumage and aggressively stretched necks, confront a woolly dog, with a defensive posture and low muzzle, in a scene charged with restrained dynamism. At some distance, other birds graze peacefully, oblivious to the conflict.

The field, of dense greenness and juicy textures, is framed by a thick forest, behind which rise, majestic and serene, snow-capped mountains. Ségé's brushwork, although loose and vibrant, achieves a remarkable formal synthesis, fusing meticulous observation and atmospheric lyricism. The light spills naturally and draws out a wide range of greens, underlining the harmony between the domestic and the wild, the everyday and the sublime.

This oil painting reveals a rural scene impregnated with impressionist vivacity and ethnographic delicacy.

Alexandre Ségé was a French painter and engraver. He studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he exhibited his landscapes, before finally returning to Coubron.