Salvatore Testa Art

French School, Late 18th Century Alexander the Great in the House of Darius Oil on canvas H. 42 cm; W. 53.5 cm without frame Apocryphal signature lower right "Verhag..." This painti...

This splendid early 18th-century French oil painting represents an ‘ex-voto’ with Emilian Jacobin and a depiction of the Virgin Mary with Christ and angels. Ex votos are votive offe...

A charming 19th Century painting of Anemone flowers in a wicker basket. It has a warm, seasonal and festive feel. I love the great simplicity and sincerity it exudes. French in origi...

Eugène Modeste LE POITTEVIN (Paris, 1806 - Paris, 1870) Diana Resting Original oil on canvas (E. Picart, 16 rue du Bac) H. 33 cm; W. 40.5 cm Unsigned Red wax seal from the posthumous...

A major, mid century modern work by French artist Claude Dechezelle (1928-2003). Having studied with the art deco painter and designer Jean Dupas at ...

This late 19th-century French oil painting depicts the barque Limbe in choppy waters, with the silhouettes of two further ships beyond. It was probably produced at Le Havre, France, ...

Circle of Jacob Ferdinand Voet Portrait of a Little Girl Oil on canvas H. 44 cm; W. 38 cm Unsigned This delicate portrait of a child, from the circle of Jacob Ferdinand Voet, demons...

Robert DESSALES-QUENTIN (Brantôme 1885 - 1958) Large view of Treignac - Corrèze Oil on wood H. 82.5 cm; L. 123 cm Signed lower right Provenance: Private collection, Périgueux Rober...

A fine antique French oil painting on canvas by Isidore Alexandre Augustin Pils (1815–1875), the painting depicting Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (1760-1836) singing "La Marseillaise", circa 1849. Isidore Pils was an academic painter, very often painting military subjects. Claude Rouget de Lisle was a French army officer from the French Revolutionary Wars and famously wrote the words to "La Marseillaise" and first performed it to the Mayor of Strasbourg; Baron Philippe-Frederic de Dietrich. This painting dates to the middle of the 19th century and could be by the hand of Pils or possibly a talented copyist who was also a classically trained artist, the work appears to be unsigned. The painting is in excellent condition and is housed in a gilded frame. Isidore Pils produced a number of paintings with this famous scene and one such painting is housed in the collection of The Louvre in Paris. At sight without frame 26.50" x 22" Pils was born in Paris as the son of a soldier François Pils. At the age of twelve, he studied with Guillaume Guillon-Lethière for four years. In 1831 he became a student at the École des Beaux-Arts and studied under François-Édouard Picot. He competed for the Prix de Rome, which he won in 1838 for a history painting, St. Peter Healing a Lame Man at the Door of the Temple. Although in poor health, Pils then spent the customary three years at the French Academy in Rome at the Villa Medici, which then had Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres as its director. While in Italy he visited Naples, Venice, and Florence. Pils's earlier paintings have religious themes. In 1849 he completed his most famous work, Rouget de L'Isle Singing La Marseillaise, which now resides at the Musée historique de Strasbourg. After experiences travelling with French troops through the Crimea, his themes took on military and nationalistic subjects. He later produced many military scenes during the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Pils was appointed professor of painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1863 but left the same year for two years in Algeria. In 1868 he was elected to seat #14 of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Among his students were Adrien Moreau, Paul Adolphe Rajon, Julien Dupré, Luc-Olivier Merson, Ludovic Piette...

Antoine-Claude PONTHUS-CINIER (Lyon, 1812 - Lyon, 1885) The Trailer Ferry at Neuville-sur-Ain Oil on canvas H. 54 cm; W. 81 cm Sale stamp lower left. Provenance: 1885, Studio Sale, No. 18 Ponthus-Cinier belongs to what could be defined as the third (and, so to speak, last) generation of neoclassical or historical landscape artists, born in the 1810s and 1820s, such as Félix Lanoüe, Achille Bénouville, Paul Flandrin, Eugène Ferdinand Buttura, and Alfred de Curzon. More specifically, he is considered the leading and most popular representative of the Lyon School of landscape artists around the mid-19th century. A generous, honest, and pleasant companion, Ponthus-Cinier came from a family of merchants on his mother's side and magistrates on his father's. Destined for commerce by his parents, he preferred the artistic path, and after enrolling at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon in 1829 and training in Paris with Paul Delaroche, he exhibited his first works at the Lyon Salon of 1839, before participating in the Paris Salon in 1841. That same year, he received the second Prix de Rome for historical landscapes (won by Buttura in 1837, and Bénouville in 1845), beaten by the Versailles artist Lanoüe. To perfect his skills, Ponthus-Cinier then decided to travel to Italy, alone and at his own expense, for a single stay between 1842 and 1844; He discovered the Ligurian coast, Tuscany, Naples, and, of course, Rome and its surroundings, and executed a considerable number of studies (painted sketches or pen and ink sketches) that he used to compose views of Italy throughout his career. Ponthus-Cinier's main qualities probably lie in "the art of illuminating a canvas," as A. Jouve wrote in the 19th century, and in his sense of perspective, sometimes truly extraordinary; however, he seems, most of the time, a little less brilliant in his figures and in the transcription of details. This unsigned canvas...

A wonderful and idyllic, mid 19th Century summery village scene, where a pretty young girl stands, knitting (perhaps she is secretly waiting for someone?), village women eat and work...

Georges Laugée was a painter known for portrait and peasant figures in landscape painting. He was influenced by William Bouguereau and Jules Breton, gracing the figures in his compos...