Ratings and values of paintings by Alfred Guillou

If you own a work by or based on the artist Alfred Guillou and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will guide you.

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Artist's rating and value

Alfred Guillou made his mark on the art scene with his scenes of Brittany. His paintings were marketed and appreciated during his lifetime. Since then, the artist's market value has risen steadily.

Among Guillou's works, the most sought-after are paintings depicting warships, often oil on canvas.

A work signed by the artist can fetch thousands of euros at auction, as evidenced by his painting Pêcheuse de crevettes,which fetched €43,800, whereas it was estimated at between €36,000 and €55,000, suggesting a strong upside potential and very high quotation in the future.

Order of value from the most basic to the most prestigious

The works and style of Alfred Guillou

Alfred Guillou (1844 - 1926) was a marine painter from Brittany, co-founder of the Pont Aven school, active in late 19th century naturalism and regionalist realism. His aesthetic is centered on the representation of maritime life, fishermen, coastal scenes and Breton traditions.

His work is a fusion of ethnographic observation, narrative sense and sensitive pictorial treatment. His pictorial themes are scenes of fishing, departures and returns at sea, shipwrecks, waiting on the shore, portraits of sailors, coastal landscapes, religious scenes with work on dramatic tension.

The figures are robust and anchored in reality, with measured gestures. Faces are expressive and earnestly scrutinized, with an absence of academic idealization. The relationship between the human condition and the natural elements is strong.

His palette is quite naturalistic, with bluish grays, ochres, cool greens and earthy browns. Contrasts are subdued, with a search for authentic atmosphere rather than decorative intensity. Colors are often slightly veiled to convey the damp light of the Breton coastline.

Lights are often diffuse, with a preference for atmospheric climates (mist, overcast skies, subtle transitions). In scenes of storm or maritime tension, the lights are dramatic.

The organization of the scene is rigorous, with classical balance and structuring by masses and diagonals. The framing is close to the illustrated narrative, with a focus on gestures, glances, expectation and solidarity. He frequently uses horizontal compositions for sea scenes, and vertical ones for isolated figures.

He mostly uses oil paint with a moderate paste, sometimes slightly impastoed in areas of light, with a preference for smooth, precise and traditional modeling inherited from academic teaching.

The work is methodical, with preliminary sketches, studies from nature and then realization in the studio. He superimposes thin layers to refine chromatic transitions. His naturalism is not descriptive. He is close to Jules Breton, Jules-Bastien Lepage and Dagnan-Bouveret by the social and ethnographic dimension of the south.

His approach is quasi-documentary on the life of fishermen, he preserves a strong Breton identity dimension close to nineteenth-century pictorial regionalism. Alfred Guillou is a major player on the Breton art scene, with a lasting influence on the Pont-Aven School before Gauguin.

The life of Alfred Guillou  

Alfred Guillou was born in 1844 in Concarneau, into a family of fishermen. He grew up in direct contact with the sea, Breton traditions and the daily lives of fishermen, which were to form the basis of all his work. His childhood was marked by close observation of the maritime community : women in headdresses, fishing departures, storms and religious rites.

He lived for a time in Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel, master of academic naturalism. There, he acquired a solid grounding in anatomical drawing, composition and traditional modeling.

He came into contact with the academic milieu while maintaining a personal view of the Breton world. He exhibited regularly at the Salon from the 1870s, and received critical acclaim for his Breton scenes, which were considered authentic, emotionally strong and rigorous.

He quickly became associated with regionalist painters and artists attentive to social realities. With Théophile Deyrolle, he founded a pioneering artistic center in Concarneau that attracted numerous French and foreign painters.

He actively supported the formation of an open Breton artistic hotbed, where naturalism, academic influences and modern research intersected. He became one of the great Breton painters of his time, mastering a naturalist style imbued with dramatic sensitivity and an almost ethnographic dimension.

He also produced major religious and historical compositions linked to Brittany. He participated in Concarneau's cultural life and supported the installation of artists in the region, becoming a key figure in the development of a structured regional artistic pole, where naturalist painting and modern influences blended.  

Market segmentation and artist's rating

The types of work circulating on the market are mainly oils on canvas, which make up the main segment. His Breton scenes are highly sought-after. There are also drawings and sketches, preparatory studies and fishermen's sketches, which form a more confidential market.

In small formats (under 30 cm), we find studies of heads, small landscapes and preparatory scenes that have good liquidity. Medium formats (30 - 70 cm) are the most active segment, with fishing scenes and full-length portraits. Large formats over 70 cm are major works with high prices, strong institutional demand.

The most sought-after subjects are maritime scenes, with storms, fishing departures and returns and shipwrecks, with a strong narrative charge and high demand, Breton women in headdresses, typical Concarneau environments and dramatic works.

Valuation criteria are Breton typicity (traditional costumes, coastline, Finistère atmosphere), quality of light and modeling, state of preservation, provenance and presence of works at the Salon.

The core market is located in France (Brittany and Paris), the UK, with historic demand for maritime genre painting. Liquidity is very good for fishing scenes or typical compositions. It is good for Breton female portraits, variable for anecdotal subjects or minor works from outside Brittany. It is high for high-quality dramatic and maritime works.

The market for Alfred Guillou is solid and sustained, dominated by collectors of Breton painting, fin-de-siècle naturalism and maritime scenes. Prices remain affordable compared to other contemporary naturalists, but large formats or emblematic works can fetch high sums.

His signature

Not all Alfred Guillou's works are signed. Here's an example of his signature :

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