CHARLES-HENRI CONTENCIN (1898-1955)
The Dôme de Neige des Ecrins (4,009 m - 13, 154ft)
France (Dauphiné)
In The Dôme de Neige des Ecrins, Dauphin Alps, France, oil on panel, 33 x 41 cm,
John Mitchell Fine paintings London
The mountain
The Dôme de neige des Ecrins ( The Ecrins Snow Dome) (4,009 m - 13, 154ft) is an alpine peak at the foot of the Écrins Bar, at the border between the French departments of Isère and Hautes-Alpes in the Dauphiné region. The Blanc glacier is surrounded by peaks allowing you to get acquainted with the high mountains before the ascent of this "4000" and acclimatize your body to the altitude. The climb is usually from the Ecrins refuge (3,170 m) and takes three to four hours for trained alpinists. It is a glacial race without technical difficulty, except for the crossing of the summit rimaye, random.
The current climb record is 1 h 57 from the Carle yard (1,874 m), made by Mathéo Jacquemoud in June 2011; it improves the record of Kílian Jornet dating from 2005. The record for round-trip skiing in mountain is 2 h 46 from the meadow of Madame Carle, directed by Steven Blanc in May 2014.
The painter
Charles-Henri Contencin (1898-1955) is a French painter who painted many landscapes of mountains and high mountains of the great Alpine peaks (mainly Mont Blanc and Massif and the Écrins). His palette is very characteristic. He particularly used the effects of sunrise or sunset over snow or glaciers. Raised in the Bernese Oberland to the age of 10-12 years, it was a lifelong mountain lover. Good climber, he was a member of the French Alpine Club, where he made the connection with the Mountain Painters Society (SPM). He made the First World War in the infantry and he received the War Cross. He then worked in an architectural office and at the Compagnie des chemins de Fer du Nord before joining the french national railways company, the SNCF, where he was responsible for engineering structures.
In addition to his professional designs it is also author of posters and handbills for the railways under the pseudonym "Charles-Henri." He is best known for its mountain paintings and left an important work. After many years of contempt coming mainly from parisian critics and intelligentsia, Contencin is now recognized worldwide as one of the major mountain painters of the 20th century.
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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau