Les bords de l'Yerres à Perigny

Gustave Cariot was a French artist born in 1872 at Périgny-sur-Yerres, near Paris. He grew up in the Marais area of Paris, a district where artists and small merchants flourished. His father was a luggage-maker and employed Gustave to become his apprentice. Cariot however was determined to pursue an artistic career and would devote his spare time to sketching views of Paris and the surrounding countryside.

Largely self-taught, Cariot became a celebrated Post-Impressionist painter. Although he stopped short of wholly adopting the scientific theories of the Divisionists, Cariot was particularly interested in their technique and enjoyed exploring Divisionism’s ability to communicate the luminescence and mutability of light and colour.

As his artistic career began to flourish, Cariot began to exhibit his work in Paris, and joined the Societe des Artistes Independants. Additionally, he began showing his work with the Salon Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and participated in the Salon d’Automne and the Salon d’Hiver.

Cariot’s paintings often demonstrate his inspiration of Claude Monet’s ‘series paintings’ of the 1890s. Like Monet, Cariot studied the effects of changing light and painted several series of works showing Paris and the French or German countryside at different hours of the day and in different seasons.

After World War I, Cariot spent most of his time in Germany, and often returned to France in the autumn and winter.