This early-20th century snow scene, below, was painted by the French artist Paul Elie Gernez (1888-1948). He was primarily a naturalist painter of still-lives, landscapes and seascapes, and spent much of his life in Honfleur in Normandy.
The signed 2ft 1in x 20in (64 x 52cm) oil on board, estimated at £400-600 in a January 21 sale at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) in Sussex, was painted in 1916 during an exploratory time in the artist’s career when he was experimenting with pointillism, fauvism and Les Nabis techniques.