Antoine Blanchard is the pseudonym under which the French painter Marcel Masson (15 November 1910 – 10 August 1988)Artnet painted his immensely popular Parisian street scenes. He was born in a small village near the banks of the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

Education and career

Blanchard received his initial artistic training at the Beaux-Arts in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

, Brittany. He then moved to Paris in 1932 where he joined the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Like

Édouard Cortès Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include: * Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician * Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer * Édouard Colonne (1 ...

(1882–1969) and

Eugène Galien-Laloue Eugène Galien-Laloue (December 11, 1854 – 1941) was a French artist. He was a populariser of street scenes, usually painted in autumn or winter. Biography He was born in Paris of French-Italian parents. His paintings of the early 1900s ...

(1854–1941), Antoine Blanchard essentially painted Paris and the Parisians in bygone days, often from vintage postcards. The artist began painting his

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

street scenes in the late 1950s, and like Cortès, often painted the same Paris landmark many times, in different weather conditions or various seasons. The most recurrent topics were views of the capital city in cloudy or rainy days, showing streets busy with pedestrians in a rush to go home, and bright storefronts reflecting on wet streets. Many of the French Quarter art galleries of New Orleans handle Antoine Blanchard paintings and prints since this American City has a strong French history. His art is popular in international art auctions and there are many copies. Authentication of an original Blanchard/Masson painting is necessary and the authentic signature carries a secret known by art experts. On August 10th 1988, Antoine Blanchard died aged 77.

Notes

External links

Antoine Blanchard - Catalogue RaisonnéArtnet
Artworks by Antoine Blanchard
Antoine Blanchard Bio
- Findlay Galleries Pseudonymous artists 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters 1910 births 1988 deaths {{France-painter-20thC-stub