Georges Gobeau Dit Gobô, The Market of Douarnenez, Aquatint, 1890s-1910s, Framed

Georges GOBEAU, known as GOBÔ (1876-1958)
The Douarnenez Market
Aquatint on Arches laid paper
Late 19th - early 20th century
Gilt frame
Signed lower right

Paper is sun-faded and has a few stains, but the colors remain very beautiful and vibrant, with tones and forms reminiscent of Nabis prints.

Dimensions: 53 x 43 x 2 cm
Sheet dimensions: 49 x 39 cm

Georges Gobeau, born June 19, 1876, in San Francisco and died at the age of 82 on July 6, 1958, in Rezé, was a French painter, illustrator, lithographer, and engraver, a member of the Société des peintres-graveurs français (Society of French Painter-Engravers).

He was born in San Francisco, where his father, originally from the Charente region of France, had come to make his fortune after fighting in the Mexican-American War. In 1882, his father died, and his family returned to France, settling in Angoulême.

Georges Gobeau became an apprentice to a lithographic printer in Angoulême. He developed a passion for drawing, lithography, watercolor, and painting.

In 1900, he moved to Angers and became a member of the Society of Friends of the Arts, which invited him to exhibit his first works at its 1900 Salon. Georges Gobeau adopted the pseudonym "Georges Gobo" (or "Gobô").

In 1907, he created his first etching on zinc plates. In 1908, he exhibited for the first time in Paris, at the Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts. from then on, Georges Gobo participated in regional and national exhibitions. He settled in Paris in 1911. He exhibited his etchings and lithographs at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1916 and 1926, and his drawings and paintings at Bernheim Jeune in 1919 and then at Durand-Ruel in 1925.

Subsequently, Gobo traveled abroad to Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Morocco. There, he painted canvases and sketches of daily life (Venice Market) and landscapes, which he then reproduced on copper.

However, it was in France, between his homes in Douarnenez in Brittany (where our print was made) and Angers, that he found his artistic inspiration. He produced numerous lithographs, etchings (notably six etchings of the city of Parthenay), wash drawings, and other works. He also traveled to Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the Auvergne region, where he regularly taught at the renowned Murol School.

He met the Angevin poet Auguste Pinguet, with whom he shared a similar sensibility and a common passion for antique books. They explored the countryside of Anjou and Brittany in search of pictorial motifs and poetic themes.

Georges Gobeau died on July 6, 1958, in Rezé, near Nantes.

The works from his studio were auctioned off on July 1, 1991, at Drouot.

A retrospective exhibition was dedicated to him in February-April 2009 at the Grand Théâtre in Angers.

He received numerous prizes and distinctions, including:
The Puvis de Chavannes Prize (Grand Prize of the National Society of Fine Arts), 1933.
Several gold medals for painting, engraving, and art books, 1937 World's Fair.
Grand Prize for Engraving from the National Society of Fine Arts, 1939.
Charles Cottet Prize, 1945.
Gillot-Dard Prize, 1950.