✅ SOLVED Mysterious French Market Watercolor

[metabolife]

Just purchased this piece because of the style, but have no clue about the artist. Looks like an aged canvas on a board.

 

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[DCMatt]

May we see the writing in the other corner?

 

[metabolife]

May we see the writing in the other corner?

Sure thing. It simply reads Artist Proof.

 

[DCMatt]

'Village Square in France' by Fred Albert

 

[DCMatt]

1968 - ish

 

[metabolife]

Wow, that's incredible! How did you find it?

 

[DCMatt]

Wow, that's incredible! How did you find it?

After you posted the other words on the painting I could see the 'F' in Proof was similar to the first letter of the name. What 4 or 5 letter names start with 'F'? So I searched for 'painter Fred France' in Google and got a hit that included the name Fred Albert. That looked good so I searched with that and got a hit at the Smithsonian (6 of his pieces are in the collection including yours).

Fred died in 2010 in AZ.

I couldn't find any $$$ on his pieces sold but he is a known artist.

I say "SCORE" on your art!

 

[metabolife]

Fine investigative work! Mr. Albert's lithograph will join me at home after I frame it. Thank you!

 

[DCMatt]

Fine investigative work! Mr. Albert's lithograph will join me at home after I frame it. Thank you!

I'd hang that in my house. Cool piece! Best of the 6 in the Smithsonian collection IMO.

 

[unclemac]

...from Wikipedia...

Art historians, curators, and collectors view working proofs as especially desirable because of their rarity, the insight they may give into the progress of the work, and because they may well have belonged to the artist. Especially in the case of dead artists, they can be the only evidence of the artist's incremental development of an image, something not usually available with drawings, paintings, or sculpture. Some lithographs may be hand signed in the border and labeled "Epreuve D'Artiste", which means Artist's Proof, which also increases its value.
Collectors also usually prefer final artist's proofs even when they are identical to the main edition; if nothing else the print may have been presented to a friend by the artist. Prints are generally sold as limited editions, with a print being cheaper than a drawing or painting because the artist/gallery makes more money by selling multiples. An artist's proof has special value because of its extra rarity and its possible differences from the "standard" print, factors that are often reflected in its price