"Soft ships before soft hills: Picard's work in pastel tones"

(1861 Paris - 1940) Sailing ships before a gently rising hilly shore with many houses lie calmly on barely moving water. 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 at the top (artist's stamp Blanchet, Paris). Signed; on the reverse an inscription in non-handwritten script; 34.5 cm x 26.8 cm. Frame.