Chinoiserie. Albert Grenier

This is a lush composition that the painter offers us here. The title written by his hand on the back of the painting is a pretext to multiply all the other points of interest, the most remarkable of which is the dazzling bouquet of dahlias. The Pekingese nestled at the foot of the Chinese vase gives us the caustic tone of the author's title. Work between sketch and completion, it is one of the most interesting works of this impressionist artist, friend of the greatest and husband of Lili Grenier, emblematic model of this period.
This painting comes from the Alert Grenier estate dispersed in 2022 in Paris which, with great emotion for amateurs, offered, in addition to the works, preserved objects such as the terracotta that we see in our painting. Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) produced a painted portrait of Grenier which is now part of the collections of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. They were fellow students at the Parisian studio of the academic history painter Fernand Cormon in the 1880s and became friends. Toulouse Lautrec even lived briefly with Grenier and his wife, Lili, an actress and model, and made several representations of the couple.
This oil on canvas is presented in perfect condition, it has been the subject of an old, very discreet restoration, see photo of the back. Canvas: 43.5 x 61 cm Sumptuous wooden frame and gilded stucco in very good condition. 63 x 78 cm.
Albert René Grenier (1861-1917) painter, etcher, who had a studio at 19 bis rue Fontaine next to that of Degas, which he then gave to Toulouse-Lautrec