“Le Pont Saint Michel – Toulouse”

Medium	Oil on panel
Signed	Signed lower right
Size	20.00" × 40.00" (50.8cm × 101.6cm)
Framed Size	26.00" × 46.00" (66.0cm × 116.8cm)
Dated	1916
Condition	Very good condition
Provenance	Galerie Marcel Flavian - Paris (labels verso) c. 1980 This work is accompanied by a photo certificate from Mme. Nicole Tamburini and will be included in the forthcoming raisonne of the work of Achille Lauge under preparation by Mme. Tamburini under certificate reference number 114

Summary

The Pont Saint-Michel in Toulouse — the old stone bridge crossing the Garonne in the heart of the city where Laugé first came to study as a young man — is a subject of deep personal significance as much as painterly interest. Achille Laugé (1861–1944) was born in the Aude, spent his formative years in Toulouse, and returned to the south permanently after seven years in Paris. The Garonne, the light of the Languedoc, the particular warmth of southern French stone — these were his native materials, and he spent a lifetime learning to render them with complete precision. By 1916 Laugé had moved well beyond the meticulous Divisionist dots of his early career and the crosshatching of his middle period into something freer and more physically immediate — broader strokes, thicker paint, a handling that has the directness of traditional Impressionism but informed by two decades of thinking carefully about how colour actually works on a canvas. The light of the Garonne in this painting is built from strokes placed with confidence rather than calculation, each one carrying its full weight of colour without hesitation. The result is a work of remarkable warmth and vitality — the south rendered not as scientific experiment but as felt experience. His friends and contemporaries included Aristide Maillol, with whom he shared a Paris studio, and Antoine Bourdelle. He exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1894 alongside Bonnard, Toulouse-Lautrec and Vuillard. In 1968 he was included in the landmark exhibition of Neo-Impressionism at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. His work is held in the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée National d'Art Moderne at the Centre Pompidou, the Musée Fabre in Montpellier and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

£44,000.00

GBP

Available now — insured worldwide delivery

Buy online

Enquire WhatsApp

We've sold 11 paintings by Achille Laugé See them

Response within 3 hours (GMT)
Authenticity guaranteed
Secure checkout
200+ five-star reviews

Why buy from Leighton Fine Art

Leighton Fine Art is a specialist dealer in Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. We’ve been trading online since 2001, and attend international art fairs including the Palm Beach Show, the Treasure House Fair and the San Francisco Fall Show. Every painting we sell comes with a guarantee of authenticity. Take a look at our near-perfect feedback rating across tens of thousands of sales on Google or Reviews.io.

Viewing & Purchasing

We offer no-obligation viewings at your own home or at our premises in Buckinghamshire – about 40 minutes by car or 30 minutes by train from Central London.

We accept all major credit and debit cards, wire transfer and PayPal. Instalment plans can be arranged on most purchases if required.

Our “on approval” service allows us to ship works of art anywhere in the world, so you can familiarise yourself with them in the comfort of their intended surroundings.

Complimentary Worldwide Shipping

We arrange specialist art courier services worldwide, ensuring your acquisition arrives safely and promptly. Every shipment is fully insured, tracked and handled by experienced fine art logistics partners.

Our service includes professional packing to museum standards, all shipping costs, and full insurance coverage.

For UK clients, we’re pleased to arrange personal delivery and installation where appropriate.Please notify us within 7 days of receipt if you would like to return any item, for any reason. We simply ask that all works are returned in the same condition as they were shipped. A restocking fee will be applied to cover shipping and relisting charges.

Returns

Please notify us within 7 days of receipt if you would like to return any item, for any reason. We simply ask that all works are returned in the same condition as they were shipped. A restocking fee will be applied to cover shipping and relisting charges.

Authenticity

All of our works are covered by our own guarantee of authenticity, which covers the work for its lifetime of ownership with the purchaser. We carry out stringent due diligence on every work listed — should we make an error, we offer a full money-back guarantee on the purchase.