CAG.845 Francis Tailleux, A Street Scene (or On the Seafront), 1936, oil on canvas, 54 x 73 cm. Purchased, Dr Thomas Bodkin, 1936 (Gibson Bequest Fund). © the artist’s estate

We’re taking our daily exercise with this WORK OF THE WEEK!

French artist Francis Tailleux (1913-1981) relocates us to the Dieppe seafront on the Côte d’Albâtre – Normandy’s beautiful Alabaster Coast – in A Street Scene (1936). Flags flutter on the sea breeze, as walkers make their way along the Boulevard de Verdun.

Look closely and you’ll spot a girl playing ‘hoop and stick’, while a smartly dressed staff member emerges from a nearby hotel. Following the strong diagonal of the boulevard, the Hôtel Royal stands further in the background, a building which still exists today.

Fun fact: this leisurely scene was completed in the same year as the Accords de Matignon, the French labour agreement that established the 40-hour workweek and two weeks paid vacation.

Purchased from Thomas Bodkin (1887-1961), following his directorship of the National Gallery of Ireland, this painting forms part of our Gibson Bequest collection – a fitting addition given that our benefactor Joseph Stafford Gibson (1837-1919) had visited Dieppe in 1861.

Tune in to The Arts House with Elmarie Mawe on Cork’s 96FM and C103FM every Sunday morning as Conor Tallon chats with assistant curator Michael Waldron about each WORK OF THE WEEK! Listen back to this week's chat here: