Albert Aublet
(1851-1938)

Albert Aublet completed his training under the history and genre painter Claude Jacquand, and indeed it was with this style of painting that he achieved his first success in the Salon of 1873 with his painting ‘Communion at Neuilly’.

He also painted portraits and traditional subjects. He had a particular liking for the region between Picardy and Normandy in France known as ‘Le Treport’ which featured in a number of his paintings and it was said that he bridged the gap between Impressionism and Traditional Realism. His talent was in no doubt and he exhibited enormously, both in terms of his paintings and also the sculptures he created. He won a huge number of prizes including the Gold medal at the Universal exhibition in 1889 and the Legion of Honour in 1890. Other cities such as London, Amsterdam and Madrid presented him with Gold medals throughout his life in recognition of his talents.

The Flower Girl
 

His friends included not only other artists but also musicians and writers of the time. He was particularly friendly with the opera composer Jules Massenet and also painted his portrait as well as other composers of the day. His work included doing the illustrations for the book ‘As Strong as Death’ by the great French writer Maupassant.

On the Shingle, 1883
 

He liked to travel and spent three months in Grenada with the painters Gerome and Pasini in 1883 and many of his paintings became classed as being of the school of Orientalism. He was throughout his life given many labels, Genre painter, Impressionist, Traditional Realist, Orientalist. It seems finally however that he chose to define himself. Following two trips to Tunisia in 1901 and 1904, he chose to settle there in 1905. He bought a Tunisian Palace called ‘Dar Ben Abdullah’ in the old part of the city and it is certainly the history of the area and a love of Islamic art that attracted him there.

He was to become the President of the Society of Tunisian Artists and following his death his palace became a centre for traditional Tunisian art and a regional museum.

On the Beach at Treport
 

Albert Aublet’s work sells in the region of $5,000 to $30,000.

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