Marie Louise Ogier - Midnight in Norway - Oil on canvas circa 1960

Marie Louise Ogier (circa 1960) – Midnight in Norway – Oil on canvas

Description
* Artist: Marie Louise Ogier (1912-2003)
* Title: Midnight in Norway
* Year: Around 1960
* Technique: Oil on canvas
* Signature: Signed lower right “Ogier”, handwritten title on the back
* Dimensions: 76 cm x 46 cm (with frame)
* Condition: Good overall condition, some slight surface wear visible

* Provenance: Private collection – directly from the artist’s studio

Origin
This work comes directly from Marie Louise Ogier's studio, dispersed at the request of her family. It belongs to a group of previously unpublished and intimate works, including landscapes, travel scenes, and her famous bouquets of flowers.
Preserved for several decades in the family home, these paintings bear witness to the artist's intimate world and his constant exploration of light and color. Their rarity on the market reinforces their artistic and heritage value.

Description of the work

Painted around 1960, this painting, titled Midnight in Norway, illustrates Marie Louise Ogier's fascination with Nordic landscapes and their unique light. The scene depicts a fjord or a wide river, bathed in the twilight light typical of polar nights. In the foreground, houses with red and ochre roofs stand out against the lush vegetation, while a boat rests on the shore. The vast, shimmering surface of the water reflects shades of blue, green, and pink, reflecting the changing reflections of the sky. On the horizon, the hills and mountains blend into a vaporous atmosphere, accentuating the depth and poetry of the landscape.
The palette, dominated by bright greens, cool blues, and touches of vibrant red, conveys both the freshness of the climate and the mildness of a Nordic night. The free and vibrant painterly touch accentuates the fluidity of the water and the lightness of the air.

This painting demonstrates Ogier's wandering curiosity, able to transpose Mediterranean radiance and northern light into his painting. It reveals a rare facet of his work, where nature becomes the setting for a sensitive and poetic experience.

Biography of Marie Louise Ogier

Marie Louise Ogier (1912-2003) was a French painter whose refined and luminous work left its mark on the 20th century art scene. Recognized for her delicate and poetic figurative style, she established herself as a key figure thanks to her floral compositions, which became her true signature. Trained under Lévy-Dhurmer and then Othon Friesz at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, she developed a unique pictorial language, combining classical rigor and modern freedom. From the 1950s, she exhibited regularly in the major Parisian salons (Salon de Paris, Salon d'Automne, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, etc.) and became a member of several prestigious institutions.
While his flower bouquets are the essence of his art, his landscapes and travel scenes demonstrate a visual curiosity and a particular sensitivity to light and color. His success quickly extended beyond France, particularly to the United States, where his works are included in prestigious private collections.
Marie Louise Ogier died in Paris in 2003 and is buried in Père-Lachaise. She leaves behind a rich and timeless artistic legacy, transmitted through her luminous and sensitive canvases.

International auctions confirm the value and appeal of Marie-Louise Ogier's works. Her paintings, offered at major auction houses such as Sotheby's and William Doyle, regularly exceed their estimates. For example, Fleurs et raisins bleus sold for €5,643, more than double its estimate, and Fleurs dans un vase reached €1,178, also well above expectations.
This dynamic demonstrates growing collector interest and a stable and active rating to this day. Whether it is his floral still lifes or his landscapes, his works appeal to a diverse audience and retain a recognized value on the market.
Acquiring a painting by Marie-Louise Ogier means investing in a quality work, already validated by the international market, with solid potential for appreciation.