JACQUES FOURCY (1906-1990)
Aiguille du Chardonnet (3, 824m - 12,545ft)
France (Auvergne Rhône-Alpes)
In L’Aiguille du Chardonnet vue de la Petite Fourche, oil on canvas, Musée de Chamonix
The mountain
The Aiguille du Chardonnet (3, 824m- 12, 545 ft) is the culmination of the long ridge that separates the Tour basin from the Argentière basin. The Aiguille du Chardonnet is a summit of the Mont-Blanc massif whose north slope, snowy and glacial, offers a wide choice of routes including the edge Forbes. Its southern slope, much more chaotic with its numerous rocky outcrops, hosts some little-known lanes and two ski corridors.
The first ascent was made by Percy W. Thomas with Joseph Imboden and Jean-Marie Lochmatter on August 1, 1879. The historic route of ascension is currently neglected at the ascent and serves as a classic way of descent. The climb is classically made by the Forbes ridge, which can be embellished by the Gabarrou-Freuchet route, which adds to the size of the route. The Migot spur and the Migot Integral spur are good alternative routes to the Forbes ridge, very varied and less frequented.
The painter
Jacques Fourcy was a French painter, member of the Société des peintres de montagnes.
Born in Paris, he studied engineering at Ecole Centrale Paris and then joined the railways firm Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM), then the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF). A prisoner of war for five years, he was repatriated as a result of the loss of one eye; he later receives the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945.
His training seems to be that of an self taught one. He began to paint very early, especially watercolors at first. He paints in his spare time and after his retirement. He joined the Société des peintres de montagnes in 1925 and exhibited at the Salon of French artists from 1926. Well known for his particularly lively and colorful watercolors, he also devoted himself, especially after the Second World War, to the oil painting most often done on panels (Isorel). He especially painted the high mountains; his works represent in particular the great peaks of the Chamonix Valley and Oisans but also the summits of the Swiss Alps. The Museum of Chamonix exhibits several of his works.
