Emile Barau "stream, Surroundings Of Reims"

Neo-Impressionist School. Oil on canvas "Stream, surroundings of Reims" signed lower left Emile Barau and titled on an exhibition label at the top, on the back of the canvas. Also bears at the top back a label with an inventory number as well as on the crossbar of the stretcher an inscription suggesting a former auction at the Hôtel Drouot. French School. 61.5 X 50.5 cm. Emile Barau (1851-1930) was born in Reims (Marne). The young man from Reims was first employed in the family business which produced corks for champagne bottles. After his father's death in the early 1870s, he went to Paris where, at the École nationale des Beaux-Arts, he was a student of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), a famous academic painter, and Eugen Jettel (1845-1901), one of the founders of the Vienna Secession. From then on, he enjoyed painting landscapes of his Champagne region, respectfully applying the teachings he had received from Eugen Jettel in Paris. In this regard, it is worth noting that Barau's works from the 1880s are equivalent in quality and the subjects are often similar to those of Jettel from the 1890s (whether the student surpassed the master is a question that may be asked). The great Reims collector, Henry Vasnier (1832-1907), who had become rich in the production of Champagne wine, notably by taking control of the Maison Pommery, acquired several of the paintings of his young fellow painter. Several of Barau's paintings thus joined a collection of unparalleled quality and richness at that time in Reims. It should be noted that Vasnier spotted Barau's works at the Georges Petit gallery (1856-1920) among paintings by Claude Monet (1840-1926) and Alfred Sisley (1839-1899), among others, that the famous art dealer exhibited in Paris. The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Reims owns 15 works by Barau, most of which came from the Vasnier collection. The Musée du Luxembourg in Paris and the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tours own his works. Unframed. Good condition. 2200 euros