Achille Granchi-Taylor (1857 - 1921)

Granchi-Taylor was born in Lyon to an Italian travelling salesman father and an English mother. He passed through the Cormon studio in the company of Toulouse-Lautrec and Émile Bernard. A friend of Gauguin, he stayed in Pont-Aven at the now famous Gloanec pension where he met Moret, Chamaillard, Maufra, Jourdan and O'Conor. From 1888 onwards, he regularly sent paintings to the Salon des Artistes Français. After Pont-Aven, he continued his career in Concarneau. While many of his painter friends portrayed Brittany in all its splendour, with its costumes and folklore, Granchi-Taylor set out to paint its true face, emphasising the dignity and nobility of a people whose existence was sometimes close to misery. His specific technique uses charcoal enhanced with oil paint juice and turpentine. The result is remarkable, the protective oilskins of the fishermen coated with linseed oil are strikingly true.