Paul-Elie Gernez

Honfleur – The Artists – Gernez, Paul-Elie

This page forms part of a series of pages dedicated to the many artists who worked in Honfleur. A full list of all the artists with a link to their works can be found at the bottom of this page.

Paul-Elie Gernez
Paul-Elie Gernez

Movement(s): Cubism

Paul-Elie Gernez born in Onnaing on January 27, 1888 and died in Honfleur on September 6, 1948 is a French painter, watercolourist, engraver and illustrator.

Paul-Elie Gernez let himself be tempted at the start of his career by Cubism, then returned to a more classical figuration, to the landscape, to still life, to seascapes, to still lifes of flowers.

He mainly draws his inspiration from Honfleur where he stays there a lot. He quickly understands that he found there what he was looking for: calm, a job that allows him to live, but gives him time to paint and above all that estuary atmosphere so loved by Eugene Boudin.

Gernez works a lot and wants to accomplish his “ranges” every day by making many drawings. In the same spirit, he produces two to four watercolors per day. He works from nature: nudes, still lifes and landscapes. Gernez divides his time between Paris and Honfleur, which he never leaves for long. In 1923, he was named Knight of the Legion of Honor.

In 1942, illness forced him to rest. His pace slows down, but he continues to work. After a serious operation in 1946, Gernez passed away in 1948 in Honfleur.

Click here to read his bio on Wikipedia (in French only)

NOTE: Click on any image below for a bigger version (no new window will open).

NOTE: A black box like this one, means that there is an explanation text about today’s situation of the painting above it.
NOTE: Click on this photo icon anywhere below a painting to see a photo of what the area looks like today.

NOTE: A blue box like this one, means there is an explanation or a note.

1913 - Paul-Elie Gernez - Fishmonger in Honfleur
1913 – Paul-Elie Gernez – Fishmonger in Honfleur
1914 - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur
1914 – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur
1923 - Paul-Elie Gernez - Chemin des Bruyeres in Honfleur
1923 – Paul-Elie Gernez – Chemin des Bruyeres in Honfleur
1923 - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur, A Garden in front of the Estuary
1923 – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur, A Garden in front of the Estuary
1923 - Paul-Elie Gernez - The Port of Honfleur
1923 – Paul-Elie Gernez – The Port of Honfleur

TODAY: The building in the middle is the City Hall (Hotel de Ville)

1925 - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur
1925 – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur
1925 - Paul-Elie Gernez - Leaving the port of Honfleur
1925 – Paul-Elie Gernez – Leaving the port of Honfleur
192 - Paul-Elie Gernez - The port of Honfleur
1927 – Paul-Elie Gernez – The port of Honfleur
1928 - Paul-Elie Gernez - The port of Honfleur
1928 – Paul-Elie Gernez – The port of Honfleur
1930 - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur, the estuary
1930 – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur, the estuary
1930 - Paul-Elie Gernez - The port of Honfleur
1930 – Paul-Elie Gernez – The port of Honfleur
1938 - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur, Exiting the Port
1938 – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur, Exiting the Port
1938 - Paul-Elie Gernez - Shore close to Honfleur
1938 – Paul-Elie Gernez – Shore close to Honfleur
1943 - Paul-Elie Gernez - View of Honfleur
1943 – Paul-Elie Gernez – View of Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Exit from the port of Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Exit from the port of Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Exit from the port of Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Exit from the port of Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur beach at low tide
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur beach at low tide
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur Beach, in the background Le Havre
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur Beach, in the background Le Havre

TODAY: From the Butin bach of Honfleur, you can see across the Seine estuary the city of Le Havre.

???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur Outer harbor
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur Outer harbor
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur, back from fishing
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur, back from fishing
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur, the Cheval Blanc
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur, the Cheval Blanc

Today: The Cheval Blanc is an old 15th century hotel/coach inn. It still exists today, and it’s still an hotel. Click here to access their site.

???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur, the estuary
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur, the estuary
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Honfleur's outer harbor and the Hotel du Cheval Blanc
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Honfleur’s outer harbor and the Hotel du Cheval Blanc
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Marinette lying down, Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Marinette lying down, Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Market in front of the Sainte Catherine church in Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Market in front of the Sainte-Catherine church in Honfleur

TODAY: Still today, every Saturday morning there is an open-air market around the Sainte-Catherine church.

???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - Path from Mont Joli to the Red Cross, near Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – Path from Mont Joli to the Red Cross (Croix Rouge), near Honfleur

NOTE: The Red Cross is not the organization but an area called Red Cross (“Croix Rouge“).

???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - The Beach of Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – The Beach of Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - The captaincy of Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – The captaincy of Honfleur

TODAY: The Captaincy, better known as the Lieutenancy, still stands today.

???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - The Harbor of Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – The Harbor of Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - The Port of Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – The Port of Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - The Port of Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – The Port of Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - The Port of Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – The Port of Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - The Port of Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – The Port of Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - The wharf in Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – The wharf in Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - View from the descent of Mont Joli above Honfleur
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – View from the descent of Mont Joli above Honfleur
???? - Paul-Elie Gernez - View of Honfleur from the heights
???? – Paul-Elie Gernez – View of Honfleur from the heights

Paul-Elie Gernez painted most of his life in Normandy, but he did manage to visit some other parts of France. Here are all the places we’ve found where he painted (a link “⇠” to his works will appear when published):

Honfleur was (and is) a very picturesque town, so it saw many artists capturing the beauty of this very scenic town. The reason it has so many tourists is obvious…. it’s very pretty. Here are some of the artists that have come to apply their art in the town (a link, symbolized by a ““, to the artist’s works will appear when published. A “*” indicates that the artist did not work directly in Honfleur but instead worked outside of Honfleur in a nearby town).

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