MARIUS PERRET (1853-1900). - Lot 107

MARIUS PERRET (1853-1900). École des Beaux Arts de Paris class of 1884 and official painter to the French Navy in 1899. Dragon boats at a water festival. Oil on canvas board, framed and signed lower right. Dimensions: 22.5x30.5 cm. A student of Alexandre Cabanel, Marius Perret graduated from the École des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1884, while studying medicine. A traveling artist, he set off for Indochina in 1898 after several trips to Africa. In 1899, he became official painter to the French Navy and Colonies. He was also one of the founders of the Société des peintres orientalistes. He died in Java at the age of just 48, and the 1902 Exposition des peintres orientalistes paid tribute to him with a retrospective of his work. The work presented here is typical of his work, which focused mainly on Cambodia. Representing the Water Festival or "Bon Om Teuk" in Khmer, it was customary on this occasion for a fleet of dragon boats to ply the Tonle Sap at Phnom Penh in an annual rowing race.