Signed Nature Morte Oil on Canvas Painting with Rabbit and Fruit, 20th C.

A master-level painting surrounded by a thick and detailed gold leaf frame, this large oval oil on canvas has an impressive scale for a nature morte (still-life) painting. The painting, which dates to circa 1850, is by an unknown, yet extremely talented French artist. In stark contrast to the dark gray background, the subject of the painting is a brightly colored floral bouquet. The vibrant flowers (blue, red, yellow, pink, and white) reside in a brown woven basket that sits atop a stone baluster railing. A cluster of darkly colored grapes is strewn across the top of the railing, next to the basket, as two butterflies flutter above the bouquet. If you look closely, you will even see a third butterfly perched on one of the large green leaves that accompany the irises, carnations, and sunflowers. The equally impressive original frame is adorned with rings of beading, foliate rinceaux, and spiral fluting, with a deep convex molding carved with additional fluting. In 19th-century France, an entire school devoted to floral still-life paintings emerged, located in Lyon, which was the capital of floral design. Although originally still-life art was classified as unimportant, acceptance by art historians of the 20th century elevated the public opinion of nature mortes. A painting such as our large and striking oval floral...

Nature morte (French for “still life”) paintings first became popular in the Netherlands in the 16th century. Assemblies of flowers, fruit, and dead game were the main subject matters, and hundreds of artists from Western Europe would eventually participate in the genre. French artists such as Jean-Baptiste Oudry painted some exquisite scenes, depictions of hunt motifs including game and dogs. These subjects remained highly popular and were used in hunt lodges throughout France. The pair of paintings seen here are very well done 19th century examples of such hunt scenes, each one measuring over 57 inches wide. Both of our paintings depict hunting trophies displayed on an outdoor veranda. The balcony is elaborately styled with cavetto molding, volute scrolls, and a shaped cartouche beneath a bulbous gadrooned finial. Both paintings contain half of the cartouche and most of the finial, as if they were a continuous panoramic scene, complete with a blue sky and large trees in the background The left painting features three felled birds piled on top of a deer carcass, with fruit scattered around them. Beneath the trophies is a coiled horn with a red tassel tied to it. A similar scene can be found on the right painting, with three birds displayed on the edge of the balcony. The birds lie on top of a pale green fabric with tassels that has been loosely folded. Under the textile is a hunting rifle and another horn. A garland of fruit is draped across the rifle’s stock, rising onto the balcony. A beige fabric matte board and molded giltwood frame surround this pair of 19th century nature morte hunt trophy...

The brilliant colors of this French nature morte are quite impressive, allowing the imagery to be seen crystal clear. Oil enhancements have been applied to this 20th-century transferred image to evoke similarities to the painting that it is after, which is currently housed in Le Louvre Museum in Paris. Our version is incredibly well-done and true to the Alexandre François Desportes original, which is entitled Game, Fruit, Flowers, and a Dog (1712). A variety of felled game (a rabbit and six birds) and a hunting rifle are displayed next to a stone fountain with a mythical creature mascaron water feature. The gadrooned basin is not filled with water, but rather a woven basket of blueberries next to a cluster of fruits including peaches and cherries (there is also a blue and white ceramic bowl full of peaches on a stone to the right of the fountain). Vibrant flowers in a wicker basket sit atop the thickly molded entablature of the cream-colored fountain. A pink rose bush grows on one side of the fountain, opposite from large, verdant bushes that obscure most of the blue sky. Laying beneath the fountain basin is a white hunting dog with black markings on its ears and face. Desportes was born in 1661 in Champigneulle, in northern France, later studying in Paris with the Flemish painter, Bernaerts. Initially, Desportes was a well-respected portrait painter, living in Poland during his mid-thirties to paint aristocrats such as King John III Sobieski. Upon the king’s death, Desportes returned to Paris and switched his focus to painting animals and floral arrangements. Both Louis XIV and Louis XIV commissioned Desportes to paint portraits of their favorite hunting dogs. Desportes would often join the kings on royal hunts, where he would travel with a notebook for still life sketches...

Signed by the artist in the lower left corner (“Lecler”), this oil on canvas painting is entitled In the Sheepfold. A typical day in the life of a farmer dressed in blue with a gold hat, the agriculteur can be seen tending to a hay feeder. Behind the man is a flock of 15 sheep, mostly depicted with tan wool and white faces and ears, with the exception of a small all-white lamb. Some of the livestock is grazing from the feeders, while four of them (including the lamb) are gathered near a large water trough. A pair of chickens can be spotted amongst the herd, including a brown rooster...

A very charming French early 20th century Nature Morte - Still Life. Oil on canvas, a wonderful grouping of a bust, flowers and books. Wonderful craq...

Title: Nature Morte A still life composition featuring vibrant flowers in a vase alongside a potted rubber plant. Oil on canvas, signed A.H. (1911-12). Exhibited at Ordrupgaard Museum, Denmark, in the "Astrid Holm...

Henri Valachman (1925-2020) "nature morte " oil on canvas.

Fine nature morte painting, oil on canvas, singed and dated “31”