Gibert de Guingard

GILBERT DE GUINGARD (1891-1918).
"Corner of Paris", 1907.
Oil on canvas.
It has an informative label on the back.
It has slight flaws in the pictorial surface.
Signed and dated on the back.
Measurements: 54 x 73 cm (frame).
Gilbert Marie de Guingand was a French officer aviator of the First World War, recognized as ace of the aviation with eight confirmed aerial victories. Gilbert de Guingand's passion for art, cultivated throughout his life, was deeply rooted in his family environment, especially in his father's profession as an artiste-peintre (artistic painter), a circumstance that probably awakened his interest in painting and drawing from an early age. Born in 1891 in Viroflay, the son of unmarried parents, he received artistic training during his studies at the Lycée Hoche in Versailles, where he developed this vocation in parallel with his enthusiasm for aviation. Before joining the military service in 1912, he established himself in Versailles as a peintre-décorateur (painter-decorator), producing portraits, urban landscapes and genre scenes, generally in oil on canvas or cardboard. During the First World War, his artistic practice underwent a decisive evolution: from pre-war domestic themes he moved on to an immediate and direct documentation of the reality of the conflict, favoring realism as a means of conveying human and environmental devastation. In his dual capacity as pilot and observer, he produced numerous sketches de guerre (war sketches).