'The Letter' by Pierre Van Poucke (circa 1950s)

'The Letter', oil on canvas, by Pierre Van Poucke (circa 1950s). A young woman intently reads a letter contemplating its contents. It seems to resonate with her in a profound way. By her expression, it has touched her deeply. Sometimes it is these moments which fill one with regrets...or which make life worth living. One can only surmise as to the outcome. Whatever the case, it is a touching, colourful portrait of a moment in time which may alter the direction of this person's life. The image is melancholy and inspiring all at once. In good vintage condition commensurate with age. Newly framed with linen slip. Signed: 'Van Poucke' in lower right hand corner. The signature is somewhat blurred within the paint but legible. Upon request a video of the artwork may be provided. 

About the Artist: Son of a tailor, Pierre Van Poucke (1920 - 1983) grew up in Tourcoing, Northern France, on the border with Belgium; from the age of 15 while in secondary school, he took evening classes at the School of Fine Arts there. In the 1930s he was a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the city of Lille. Later he was admitted to the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. Surprised by his own success in 1943, he sold a painting for 5,000 francs at the school's exhibition. An imaginative painter, Van Poucke worked without models. Figurative in the 1940s and 1950s, he painted young dreamers, peasants, artists, musicians, dancers, horse riders, harlequins, nudes and landscapes. The colours were dark, the figures outlined by prominent black lines. Subsequently, the artist's palette became colourful and vibrant. He then painted in a style which was reminiscent of Kandinsky's tending towards lyrical abstraction in his work from the 1970s. His artworks often evoke his native Flanders, the Mediterranean Sea (Côte d'Azur, Corsica) and the Marne region where, from the 1960s, he restored an old farmhouse with his wife Marie-Louise. He left hundreds of artworks as a legacy and they now appear in private collections in France and abroad, and in museums in many French cities. In his very early days, his works were signed 'Pierre Van Poucke', then 'P. Van Poucke' and finally 'Van Poucke' into the 1950s and 60s. 

Dimensions with frame:

H 67.5 cm / 26.6"

W 58 cm / 22.8"

Dimensions without frame:

H 54.5 cm / 21.5"

W 45.5 cm / 17.9"