Jean-charles Grandjean - Fischermen On A Lake In Italy

Jean-Charles GRANDJEAN Active between 1833 and 1857 Oil on canvas 33 x 41 cm (46 x 54 cm with the frame) Signed and dated lower right “Grandjean / 1835” Beautiful Restoration period frame in gilded wood Born in Paris, A student of Louis-Etienne Watelet, Jean-Charles Grandjean is a landscape painter who exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1833 to 1857, mainly views of Switzerland and Italy. When Corot returned to Italy in 1834, he was accompanied by Jean-Charles Grandjean, whom he had met in Soissons the previous year. This painter who is said to have "a voluptuous temperament and a taste for living well" traveled with Corot to Italy from the summer of 1834 to the fall of 1834. After spending time in Genoa, Florence and Venice, they visited Milan and the lakes north of Milan which are undoubtedly the subject of our painting. As for the sculpture represented in the painting, it seems to be a saint or a knight. He has a red cross on his chest and his face is hidden by a helmet. In this case, one of the two characters in the foreground removes his hair at the sight of him as a sign of respect. The chosen moment is dusk, which gives a beautiful lighting effect typical of the Romantic era, as are also the choice of a picturesque site and the emphasis placed on the representation of the link between man and nature.