“Summer In Brittany”

Here for your consideration is an outstanding oil on canvas painting by Max Silbert. Signed lower right. Circa 1915. Recently professionally cleaned with no restorations. The frame is not original but of the period. It has been adjusted to fit this painting. A inch and a half of each side of the painting will not be visible if you choose to use this frame. Top to bottom the painting fits as it should. Overall measurements framed 38 by 44 inches. Provenance: A Sarasota Florida estate.

Max Silbert was foremost a Russian genre painter, but later became a French citizen. He was a student of both Jean-Léon and Albert Maignan. He first exhibited his works at the "Salon des Artistes Français" in 1907 and was awarded a silver medal in 1920. Silbert and many other artists from the turn of the 20th century flocked to the remote region of Brittany on the north-western coast of France to paint people and countryside landscapes.

Brittany (Bretagne) has always been fiercely independent; indeed it only became part of France in the 16th century. Today, facing the North Sea and the mighty Atlantic, the Bretons still look outwards towards the rest of the world rather than towards Paris.

It’s a stunningly beautiful region running from the Côte du Granit Rose (the red granite coast) with its pink rock formations and wonderful beaches in the north to the prehistoric remains at Carnac and the glorious islands just off the mainland in the south. It has history and great towns, superb food, and top events.

Brittany is also the land of myths and legends with a separate language where those stories are celebrated. It's a place for romantics and fairy tales, many of which appear at the great Breton annual festivals that gather Celts and like-minded people from all over the world.