CHARLES-HENRI CONTENCIN (1898 - 1955)
Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (3,773 m - 12,379 ft)
Italy
In The Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, Mont Blanc, France Huile sur toile 54x73, John Mitchell Gallery London
The mountain
The Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (3,773 m - 12,379 ft) is a mountain of the Mont Blanc massif in Italy, forming part of the Peuterey ridge to the summit of Mont Blanc with its higher neighbour, the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey. The best-known route on the mountain is the south ridge (TD), first climbed by Karl Brendelet and Hermann Schaller, on 26 and 27 August 1930; it remains one of the great classic rock routes in the massif. The first ascent of the complete Peuterey ridge including the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (the Intégrale) was on 28–31 July 1934 by Adolf Göttner, Ludwig Schmaderer and Ferdinand Krobath. On 21 August 2010 23-year-old Chloé Graftiaux, a leading Belgian sport climber, fell to her death on the mountain.
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.
__________________________________________________
2021 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
