Emile Barau "departure For The City, A Sunny Day"

Neo-Impressionist School. Oil on plywood panel "Departure for the city, a sunny day" signed lower left Emile Barau. French School. 53 X 45.7 cm. Emile Barau (1851-1930) was born in Reims (Marne). The young man from Reims was first employed in the family business that produced corks for champagne bottles. After his father's death in the early 1870s, he left for 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 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 from the 1880s are of equal 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 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 works by him. A fine example of the work of an artist who knew how to master his palette, thus making this soft, sunny day immutable. Unframed. Two cracks in the first laminated panel at the top center. Numerous cracks that do not, however, weaken the pictorial layer. Good overall condition. 650 euros.