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Lot Essay
Charles Olivier de Penne was a member of the Barbizon School and a student of L. Cogniet and of Charles-Emile Jacque. He was known for his landscape and animal paintings and his work is characterised by a loose, painterly brushstroke. He frequented the forests of Brocéliande where he set virtually all his dog and hunting scenes. Eugène Montrosier wrote, 'He knows his dogs so well that his paintings are really illustrious portraits. Each of them which he has projected upon the canvas, in oil or watercolor, are from a proud line and their lineage is often more authentic than the lineage of those they serve.' (William Secord, Dog Painting, Woodbridge, 2000, p. 337).
The Barbizon painters were initially rejected by the Salon and heavily criticised by the Academicians. It was not until the 1850s that they began to be accepted and they had considerable impact on later artists, such as the Impressionists who found inspiration especially in their plein-air techniques. De Penne was particularly interested in capturing the effects of light in the forest and on the hounds' coats.
The Barbizon painters were initially rejected by the Salon and heavily criticised by the Academicians. It was not until the 1850s that they began to be accepted and they had considerable impact on later artists, such as the Impressionists who found inspiration especially in their plein-air techniques. De Penne was particularly interested in capturing the effects of light in the forest and on the hounds' coats.