Auguste Leroux (1871–1954) - Portrait Of A Woman And Her Child - Oil On Canvas

Auguste Leroux (1871–1954)
Portrait of a Woman and Her Child
Oil on canvas
46 x 38 cm.

Winner of the Prix de Rome in 1894, painter and illustrator, he had a brilliant and long career. He exhibited at the Salon for more than half a century. With a rigorous academicism, oriented towards history painting, Leroux gradually gave in to the charms of the Belle Époque, and applied himself to depicting contemporary scenes and faces.

A happy post-impressionist interlude, however, characterizes a short period of his work, at the beginning of the 20th century. It seems to correspond to a trip to Brittany. Indeed, his Breton paintings share with our work a broader and freer touch. (For example, Woman with a Parasol, Oil on panel, anonymous sale, Drouot, June 16, 2007, €2,400)

The painter abandons precise modeling and rigorous drawing to create a diffuse and enveloping light, born from the juxtaposition of touches of contrasting and generous colors. Without going as far as pointillism, this compartmentalization, this fragmentation of color recalls the works of his contemporary Henri Martin. We also find the same representation of an ideally peaceful and intimate world.

Our portrait probably represents the painter's wife, and one of their three children, all of whom were painters. We find similar features and a hairstyle in a portrait of a woman by the artist presented at Christie's in 2013.