Albert Gabriel Rigolot (French, 1862–1932)
Lake Landscape with Figures Boating
Oil on canvas
38½ × 64¼ in.
Signed ARigalot (lower left, AR in ligature)
Albert Gabriel Rigolot trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Léon Germain Pelouse and Auguste Allongé. Associated with the Barbizon school, he became known for luminous, poetic landscapes that emphasized atmosphere and harmony between people and nature. Rigolot regularly exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1886 and won recognition at the Exposition Universelle of 1900. His travels to North Africa later inspired a series of Orientalist paintings, though his forest and river views remained central to his oeuvre.
This work reflects Rigolot’s sensitivity to the quiet rhythms of rural life. Figures on the shore and in a small boat are gently integrated into a landscape of shimmering water, delicate reflections, and verdant foliage. The composition exemplifies his skill at rendering the French countryside with both naturalistic detail and a sense of poetic calm.
