Edouard Henri Théophile Pingret (1788-1875) - The Death Of An Orphan

- Oil on canvas. - Édouard Pingret, born in the 18th century but whose long life allowed him to live through most of the 19th century, straddles two of the great centuries of French art. With financial help from his family, he trained with David and Regnault, two of the great masters of neoclassicism in Paris. Too young to embrace the solemn and sumptuous style of the Empire, he drew inspiration from the mountains and their inhabitants to create landscapes and genre scenes that enjoyed great charisma among the bourgeoisie of the Restoration. This dramatic hospice scene dates from his mature period, in the Picardy town of Saint Quentin, his hometown, which oscillates between the tearfulness inherent in 19th-century French Catholicism and clichés about the transience of beauty. The roundness of the composition, the balance and the debt to the great masters are evident in a painter who, at almost fifty, had mastered the craft. Pingret's contacts among the Parisian elite led him to his departure in 1851 for the Mexico of the unfortunate Maximilian, where he devoted himself to painting the customs of a new country full of colors and nuances. - A copy of this work, also signed but smaller, was sold at auction in 2017 at the Schüler auction agency in Zurich. - Dimensions of the image without frame: 77 x 58 cm / 106 x 87 cm with the original frame of the painting, in carved and gilded wood, which constitutes a precious context of great artistic value. - It comes from a private collection of paintings in Paris. - Good general condition. Minimal defects. - This painting constitutes a unique, original and irreplaceable work of art. - Galerie Montbaron attaches a technical sheet prepared by a qualified art historian with all its lots. This sheet is sent in digital format and on request.