Emile Barau "the Church, Study"

Neo-Impressionist school. Oil on panel "the church, study" monogrammed and dated lower right E. B. 1884. Titled on an exhibition label on the back of the panel. French school. 21.2 X 27 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 the death of his father in the early 1870s he left for Paris where, at the Ecole nationale des Beaux-Arts, he was a pupil of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) famous academic painter and Eugen Jettel (1845-1901) one of the founders of the Vienna Secession. He then enjoyed painting the landscapes of his Champagne region, respectfully applying the teachings he had received from Eugen Jettel in Paris. In this regard, it should be noted that Barau's works dating from the 1880s are equivalent in quality and the subjects are often similar to those of Jettel dating from the 1890s (did the student surpass the master, one might wonder). 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 citizen, a 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 come from the Vasnier collection. The Musée du Luxembourg in Paris and the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tours own some of his works. Our small, masterfully executed study demonstrates that Emile Barau had nothing to envy the great masters of Impressionism in the exercise of his art. Painted and patinated wooden frame after the painting. Two small material losses on the right. Good general condition. 480 euros