Joseph Le Dieu : Scenes from Normandy in the 19th century

From 5 to 28 October, the Institut Français d’Écosse will present an exhibition dedicated to the drawings of Joseph Le Dieu. Joseph Marie Le Dieu, born in Avranches on December 12, 1815 and died in the same town on May 27, 1880, was a lawyer and artist from La Manche. He took up the pencil in the middle of the 19th century to deliver the visual testimony of a rural territory, still preserved from the transformations of modernity. We follow him on his walks that take him from Avranches to the lands of Granville and Coutances. Le Dieu is part of the taste of his time for the picturesque and the small heritage. Deviating from conventions, he chooses crossroads to deliver sensitive scenes populated by characters and pets.

The drawings in this exhibition belong to the family collection of Catherine and Jacques Marie. The great quality of the artworks has been recognised by the Orsay Museum in Paris. Mr and Mrs Marie wanted the drawings to be exhibited in Edinburgh, as Joseph Le Dieu was interested in the same subject in his career as Walter Frederick Campbell of Islay (1798–1855), whose sketches were published within the book “Life in Normandy” (Ed. by John Francis Campbell, National Library of Scotland).

Come to discover a unique collection of original drawings !