Signed, and inscribed on the verso 'Aiguille de Peuterey', this oil by Charles-Henri Contencin (1898–1955) shows the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, Mont Blanc, France. Published in Peaks & Glaciers 2021, cat. p.6, and described by the gallery as one of the finest Contencin pictures offered since its Peaks & Glaciers exhibitions began in 2001.

Looking west from near the Torino Hut, the Peuterey Ridge is one of the most thrilling sights in the Alps; the south face of the mountain as painted by Contencin leads up to the Italian summit of Mont Blanc, and ranks among the finest classic rock climbs on the massif.

Having survived the First World War at just seventeen, Contencin trained as an architect and draughtsman and began painting and climbing in the Savoie and Berner Oberland from an early age. Initially employed by the French railways, he went on to commission works of art for them. Though technically an amateur painter, he was an active member of the Paris-based Société des Peintres de Montagne, eventually becoming its President.

Collectors of Charles-Henri Contencin's work and of the Peuterey Ridge/Mont Blanc massif will find this an outstanding, gallery-cited example of his finest late work.