Raymond Wintz
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Raymond Wintz (Joseph Raimond Wintz) (1884-1956) was a Paris-born painter whose most famous paintings were of marine and coastal views in Brittany. He was the son of the painter Guillaume Wintz (1823-1899) and the husband of the painter Renee Carpentier (-Wintz) (1913-2003).
Raymond Wintz was trained at the School of Decorative Arts and the National College of Fine Arts in Paris. He was a pupil of Jules Adler at the Ecole Francais' and first exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1911.
[edit] Awards
He became one of the most popular French painters and among the awards and distinctions he held were:
- 1911 – Membership of the Paris Salon
- 1922 – Silver Medal, Paris Salon
- 1924 – Officer of the Academy; Gold Medal, Paris Salon; Corot Prize, Paris Salon
- President of the Paris Salon
- President of the Society of French Landscape Artists
- Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour
- President of the Jury of the Salon
The best known of Raymond Wintz’s paintings is ‘The Blue Door’, which still sells well as a poster and print. It is believed to have been painted in 1924 and the French title may be "Un coin du port a Doelan". It contains many of his typical themes and motifs: a partially-seen room with an open door to a balcony overlooking a harbour or coastal scene. A vase or plant-pot containing geraniums or hydrangeas often features. A similarly themed painting, "The Open Door", was sold in the USA as a "Paint it Yourself Art Program" in the 1950s. The information accompanying the "Open Door" painting states that he painted this scene following a trip to Brittany in 1924 and that it is based on the actual view from a friend’s villa. Brittany was the location for "The Blue Door" and most of his landscapes which include "Camaret" and "Morning Light at Dalan (Finisterre)".
Paintings attributed to 'Richard Wintz' and 'R. Wints' also appear to be by Raymond Wintz, displaying many of his characteristic motifs and stylistic features.
Raymond Wintz’s style is broadly termed ‘realism’, although a slight leaning towards impressionism has been noted. He may have been attracted to the Brittany locations because of the quality of the light, in the same way as a school of painting grew up around Newlyn in Cornwall. He has been called ‘the painter of light’. To a modern day audience his paintings are nostalgic and evoke childhood memories of the coast. The continuing popularity of 'The Blue Door' may be because it typifies the kind of view that people want from their front window.
His works were exhibited in museums and galleries including the Tattegrain Museum and Petit-Palais in Paris and the Museums of Reims, Laon, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts|Montreal, Montevideo, and Glasgow, but it is not clear how many remain on show. His paintings are sometimes sold at auction in France, with most originating from and entering private collections.
Raymond Wintz died in 1956 and is buried in Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris.
