A canvas by Adolphe-Félix Cals represents the beach of Vierville

The eighth and last part of a series devoted to painting presents a canvas by Adolphe-Félix Cals representing Vierville-sur-Mer. Born in Paris in 1810, the painter is described as a precursor of Impressionism, still insufficiently known. Alain Tapié, scientific director of the Painting in Normandy collection, highlights his interest in humble subjects and his way of grasping nature at work.

The article brings this landscape closer to the later destiny of the beach: a century after the painted scene, the American soldiers of the 1st and 29th divisions would suffer heavy losses on June 6, 1944, at the beginning of Operation Overlord.

At the end of his life, Cals frequented the Saint-Siméon farm in Honfleur. The characters seated under the apple trees and the portraits inspired him. In his letters, he insisted on the place of the heart in art and on the inexhaustible resources of nature.

Died in Honfleur in 1879, he rests in the Sainte-Catherine cemetery, a few meters from the burial of Michel Serrault. The exhibition was then open every day from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Abbey of the Ladies of Caen, with free admission. The article is signed Frédéric Leterreux.

Reconstructed or uncertain passages:
- The hook and file name indicate Alphonse-Félix, while the body of the article gives Adolphe-Félix Cals. The rewriting takes up this last first name, used in the text.

Archive image: https://vierville.cordelle.eu/PhotosDocuments1/ExpoAlphonse-FelixCals--ViervilleTexte.jpg