"Soft ships before soft hills: a work by Picard in pastel tones"

(1861 Paris - 1940) Sailing ships lie calmly on the barely moving water in front of a gently rising hilly shore with numerous houses. Executed in a soft, delicate style and a joyful, pastel color palette, this work by Picard—who, like his brother Georges Picard (1857-1946), was a student of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and regularly exhibited at the Salon. Oil on canvas, mounted on cardboard (stamp of the artist Blanche, Paris). Signature; on the reverse, an inscription in non-handwritten script; 34.5 cm x 26.8 cm. Transom.