Georges Maroniez

Georges Maroniez
Georges Maroniez in his studio (1892)
Born	1865 Douai, France
Died	1933 (aged 68) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Education	Pierre Billet, Adrien Demont
Known for	Painting, Photography
Movement	Realism
Spouse(s)	Jeanne Dutemple
Awards	Légion d'Honneur

Georges Philibert Charles Maroniez (17 January 1865, Douai – 11 December 1933, Paris) was a French painter, specializing in landscapes with figures.

Maroniez was the son of an industrialist who owned a sugar refinery in Montigny-en-Ostrevent. He displayed artistic talent at an early age, but – although not discouraged – was expected to pursue a more professional career. Accordingly, he studied law, and afterwards served as a magistrate in, successively, Boulogne-sur-Mer (1891), Avesnes-sur-Helpe (1894) and Cambrai (1897).

While attending law school, he also took courses at the École des Beaux-Arts of Douai and became a student of Pierre Billet in Cantin. It was there that he met the painter Adrien Demont, the son-in-law of Jules Breton. Urged on by Breton, at the age of 22 he started exhibiting peasant genre and landscape scenes in Douai and Paris. He began vacationing in Wissant, where he stayed with Demont and his wife, Virginie Demont-Breton, painting the coastal scenery and becoming associated with the "École de Wissant", founded by Henri and Marie Duhem. In 1889, he became a member of the Société des Artistes Français.

At the annual Salon des artistes français, he was awarded a Honorable Mention in 1891, a 3rd Medal in 1905, and a 2nd Medal in 1906. Defying the label of "marine painter", he filled his genre scene paintings with Flemish realism. Using a luminous, caressing light, he transposed the grey country roads of his birthplace with light, and painted eloquent snowy landscapes. He painted ports of Brittany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as numerous scenes of the fisherman's life, especially at twilight or night. He captured the magnetic beauty of an ocean sunset, and the tranquility that beauty and light brings.