Painting By Stanislas Lépine (1835-1892)

Painting By Stanislas Lepine (1835-1892) Oil on canvas signed lower left - Antique frame re-gilded with gold leaf. Dimensions: Frame dimensions: 71 x 53.5 cm. Canvas dimensions: 49 x 32 cm. Biography: Stanislas Lépine (1835-1892) began his artistic career in the style of marine painter Johan Barthold Jongkind and specialized in rendering nautical views such as the Sailboats of the harbor of Caen. He moved to Paris in 1855 to Montmartre and spent his entire life there. He lived successively at no. 20 Chaussée de Clignancourt (rue de Clignancourt today), then rue des Rosiers, rue de la Fontenelle (1870-1887) (these two streets have formed rue du Chevalier-de-La-Barre since 1907) and finally at no. 18 rue de Clignancourt. In 1859, he made his debut at the Salon where he exhibited until 1880. He then presented Port de Caen, Effet clair de lune. He married at the same time a childhood friend Marie-Odile-Emilie Dodin. In 1860, he undertook a more professional apprenticeship in the studio of Jean Baptiste-Camille Corot, some of whose paintings he copied. He then met Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904), whose friendship was accompanied on several occasions by financial assistance. In 1861, his submission to the Salon was rejected, but his Pont des Invalides was accepted in 1863. Having become a friend of Corot, living away from official circles, it was thanks to the support of Count Doria that he was able to continue painting. With Adolphe-Félix Cals, the Count took them under his protection and welcomed them into his château d'Orrouy. With Corot, he developed a personal style, halfway between the pastoral spirit of his master's compositions and the atmospheric landscapes of the Impressionists: La Rue Saint Vincent, circa 1875 (Musée d'Orsay), Montmartre from 1878, and Paris, le pont des Arts from 1880. From 1870, Durand-Ruel began to take an interest in his work and participated in the exhibition he organized in London in 1971. But the serious economic crisis that raged from 1873 to 1879 forced the dealer to interrupt his purchases. He never equaled the popularity of his contemporary colleagues, but he was invited to participate in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874 where he exhibited three views of Paris, including Bords de Seine. However, he distanced himself from the group, fearing that the scandal surrounding their demonstrations would harm the smooth running of his career and preferred to present his works at the Salon. He continued his solitary work along the three axes he had explored since his beginnings: views of Paris, those of its surroundings and canvases representing the coasts and villages of Normandy. To survive, the artist organized the first auction of his works in 1874. He put thirty-four paintings up for sale at the Hôtel Drouot in 1874, and the following year twenty-three canvases were sold at auction and brought him a reasonable sum for the time. In the 1880s, a turning point was observed in the subjects represented, as in Noces à Saint-Étienne-du-Mont. He painted a series of views of Parisian parks and gardens (Trocadéro, Luxembourg, Tuileries) where he showed an interest in anecdote, very unusual for him until then: couples walking, schoolchildren playing, nannies with young children, etc. He regularly participated in the Salon of French Artists from 1881 to 1889. His talent was finally recognized in 1884 when he received an "honorable mention" at the Salon. For the painting The Seine at the Estacade, exhibited at the 1885 Salon, he produced numerous small preparatory canvases that can be found today at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena and in a private collection. He died on September 28, 1892 in his Parisian apartment and his funeral took place at the Saint-Pierre church in Montmartre.