Frank Myers BOGGS (1855 - 1926) French painter and printmaker emigrated from the United States 

Harfleur, view from the customs quay, circa 1885

Oil on canvas
Signed lower left
Dimensions: 59,5 x 81 cm

For those who generalize, he was an impressionist. For those who classify, he was a landscaper who exhibited in salons and for the few who did not care about etiquette, he was simply a painter of a certain talent - preface by Arsène Alexandre

This painting comes from his early years, around 1880-1885. In Normandy, he painted the effects of water and developed his impressionist technique. Here, it represents the famous port of Harfleur.

The rows of houses, which border the customs quay, reflect their half-timberings in the Lézarde. The treatment of water describes the ephemerality of light and the transient nature of things that so appealed to the Impressionists. The sky is tormented: caught in a few swirling material effects, it reflects the artist's manner and gesture.

Frank Boggs was a pupil of the great master Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His drawings, generally in small formats, are spontaneous and lively.

In 1877, he moved to Boulevard Montparnasse. He makes many round trips between New York and Paris. In New York, he is recognized as an Impressionist painter. His French career began when the State bought him Place de la Bastille in 1882. The following year, he exhibited at Goupil (Nice), Munich, London, then in Philadelphia and Chicago. From then on, he was courted by renowned museums, collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and by private collections internationally.

In love with Paris, he painted its many views - quays, buildings and banks of the Seine - as well as French and foreign ports, the lively markets of La Rochelle (France, Atlantic coast) and Venice, passing through the Pays- Bas and Belgium. His works have an identifiable and attractive style.

Frank Boggs exhibited until the end of his life at the Salon des Artistes Français, where he received several distinctions, including being out of competition, as well as a silver medal at the 1998 Universal Exhibition.

References:
• Arsène Alexandre, 166 illustrations (including 3 in color), Frank Boggs, Le Goupy, Paris, 1929, 133 pages
• Louis Atlas, article “An Early Expatriate”, The Chicago tribune and the Daily news, New York, January 26, 1930, p. 6
• J. Blu, preface by the count de Marsy, Catalog of paintings, drawings, sculptures, Musée Vivenel, 1901, p. 15
• Society of friends of the arts of the department of Seine-et-Oise, Description of works of painting, sculpture, architecture, engraving, miniatures, drawings and pastels exhibited in the rooms of the Museum of Versailles, Sunday July 19, 1885, 1885, p . 8 and p.14

Museums:
• In Paris: Louvre museum, graphic arts departments. National Center for Plastic Arts, municipal contemporary art fund for the city of Paris.
• In France: Castle-museum of Dieppe, maritime museum of the Tatihou island in Saint-Vaast-La-Hougue, Richard Anacréon museum in Granville, Nantes museum of fine arts.
• Internationally: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Museum of Fines Arts, New York Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art.