Pierre Duval Lecamus (1790-1854) Dinner In Good Company - Priest Parish Priest

Pierre DUVAL LECAMUS
(Lisieux 1790 - Saint-Cloud 1854)
Dinner in good company
Oil on canvas
H. 32.5 cm; W. 24.5 cm
Around 1820

Related works : - Painting from the 1822 Salon and kept at the National Museum of Education in Rouen, titled "L'Espièglerie"

A pupil of Claude Gautherot and Jacques-Louis David from 1808, Duval Lecamus was one of the main representatives of the genre scene under the Restoration and the July Monarchy, exhibiting successfully without interruption at the Salons from 1817 to 1853, not only in Paris but also many in the Provinces. His meticulous and polished style, inspired by the Nordic artists of the 17th century, perfectly corresponds to the tastes of the Duchess of Berry and the Duke of Orléans (future Louis-Philippe), and places him in the same sphere as artists such as: Boilly, Drolling, Grenier de Saint-Martin, Mallet, Roehn, Haudebourg-Lescot or Pingret. A relatively common practice among artists, he had attached to his name (Duval), and this from 1817, that of his wife (married in 1813), who belonged to a much higher class than his, in order to open doors in terms of clientele, but also to avoid confusion with another painter, Eustache-François Duval (1760-1836). Founder of the Lisieux Museum and for a time mayor of Saint-Cloud where he spent the end of his life, he had a son, Jules-Alexandre (1814-1878), who also had a great career as a painter. His works can be found in many French museums but also at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, or at the Clark Art Institute (USA). Pierre Duval Lecamus had two specialties: – Full-length portraits of elegant models, against a landscape background, small in size and brilliantly and refined in execution. – Genre scenes, interior or of peasant and popular inspiration (peasants, hunters, sailors, etc.), just as precise in their style.

Our painting belongs to this last category, and in particular to the theme of humorous interior scenes, which Duval Lecamus treated on many occasions at the beginning of his career. Our painting is part portrait, part genre scene and part social image. The priest in his apartments has received a lady for dinner, so the bag is still hanging on the straw chair. The remains of the meal for two people give us a glimpse of crayfish and a pâté en croûte accompanied by flutes certainly containing nothing better than a Champagne wine whose bottle is in the bucket. The woman seems to have left the table for a moment and the priest, standing up, extends his hand towards the empty chair. Does he wish to inspect the contents of the bag? In the background, a faience holy water font hanging near the front door is found in several other compositions by the painter with a priest as their central subject. On the right, a box bed seems unmade, the result of frolics near the dinner? A juicy element that joins the series of the painter's works, the children looking through the transom, the scene taking place in the private apartments of this father who seems to be in charge of a school. A fine example! A usual social criticism from this artist who makes the life of the population and its sins, choice morsels.